Willow Jane
by gingaloid
Summary: It's been ten years since Will and Emma went their separate ways at the age of eighteen. Will married Terri and went on Broadway. Emma got smacked with reality. Now, after ten years of lying, Emma decides it's time that the truth be told. AU WEMMA.
1. I'm Sorry for the Lies

**A/N: **So I started another story. I've just got so many ideas bouncing around, and I figure we need all the wemma we can get until Season 4! That being said, this story was inspired by a few Tumblr gifsets that were posted by Aurore (**Castille94**), so thank you for your wonderful gifsets! I don't know if the idea to write this story would have come to me without them!

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Chapter 1: I'm Sorry for the Lies

"But she's _ten_, Emma. TEN."

Emma bit her lip and looked down at the ground, her hands fidgeting in her lap. They were sitting on a bench in the park, the warm Ohio sun beating down on them in the middle of July. Emma's hair was up in a curly ponytail and the heat on the back of her neck was a reinforcement of the hurt in Will's voice.

"Yes, I – I know she is."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He was staring at her, his eyes boring holes into her face. You could hear the hurt in his voice, the sound of his heart ripping in half at the thought that he missed out on the first ten years of his daughter's life. Will knew her answer before she even spoke it, because even when she was messing up, she always had good intentions at heart.

"Terri. She…I didn't want to cross her, not after she saw and told me to keep my mouth shut about her."

Dammit. Add that to the list of things Terri's screwed up in his life. Their divorce had been finalized for a year and still he couldn't bring himself to forgive her for holding him back. Twenty-eight years old and he only followed one dream; he got on Broadway at the age of twenty-two for a short run in_ Once Upon a Mattress_. Other than that, Terri sucked the life out of him, and even then she wasn't very thrilled for him to be in a Broadway show. Will looked at Emma and nodded, biting his lip and letting out a sigh.

"Of course she did. What – uhm, what's her name?"

Emma smiled, her cheeks turning slightly pink, almost embarrassed to tell Will the name of his daughter, though at the time of her birth, Emma thought it clever.

"Willow. Willow Jane."

Will's chest tightened and he felt tears coming to his eyes. Was that really her name? His lower lip trembled and he bit the inside of it to make it stop. Clearing the lump in his throat away, he took a deep breath. "Willow Jane? L-like…"

"Like William James. Yes. I knew that she may never meet you, or she'd be…well, at least ten…before she badgered me enough to make me give in to letting her meet you. I wanted her to have a part of you always." Emma half-smiled and gave one shoulder a shrug, looking at him.

Will looked away from Emma, propping his elbows on his knees and dropping his head into his hands. "Why not sooner?" His voice was strained and Emma could hear the tears he didn't want her to see. "Terri or not, that marriage has been over for two years and finalized for one and you _knew that_. We haven't fallen out of contact for the past ten years, Emma, and we've staying in constant contact for the past five, so why not sooner?"

"I was scared, Will. I know that's not an excuse, but it's what was stopping me."

"Ten years, Emma. You lied to me for ten years. There are some things that can be looked over immediately, like you stole money from me and came to pay it back, or even watching you walk out of my life ten years ago and then walking back in. But you took ten years of my own child's life from me, Emma, so I'm sorry if 'I was scared, Will' doesn't cut it for me."

The pair fell silent.

Will stared down at the ground through blurry eyes, his hands on his forehead, the pressure from his elbows digging into his knees uncomfortably. Ever since he got out of high school, all Will ever wanted was to be a dad. He didn't care that he was going to school at the same time; he wanted to have kids and a family. Terri was staying home, so it wouldn't be a problem to have children, but she kept saying they were too young, they were too young, they weren't ready. Well Emma was eighteen, and she was too young, and she sure as hell was not ready, but she did it, and she did it on her own. Things just weren't adding up in his life anymore. He'd always looked back on that final night with Emma before college with nothing but love and passion, and now that he knew a child came from it, he looked back on it with pain. The pain of not knowing her.

Emma wondered what she could say or do to try and fix something – anything. She felt awful and she knew that ten years was too long but there was nothing she could do to give him back those ten years of Willow's life. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for her, finding out just weeks after you've started college that you're going to become a mother instead. There were times that Emma would look back on her week at the beach with Will before the pair of best friends separated their ways for school, and she regretted every event that happened on their final night together. The night she made Will a cheater and he made her impure. But after Willow was born, after she accepted that school had to be put on hold, and after she held her for the first time, her only regret was that Will wouldn't know about her.

"I found out a month after I started classes at Columbia." Emma said, clearing her throat. She at least owed him the full explanation; she owed him that much. "I couldn't stop throwing up and it was sending my OCD into overdrive, so I went to the doctor to try and get some antibiotics for what I thought was the stomach flu, and I was told that it was a nine-month kind of deal and I was a month and a half in."

She paused, looking to Will, not sure if he wanted her to continue or not. She knew it was a lot to take in, but when he remained silent, she went on. "I called my mom in tears, because I didn't know what to do and it wasn't something I could fix and school was already stressful enough without this piled on top of it. She convinced me to drop out of Columbia and come home to Lima, reassuring me that school wasn't what I should focus on. When I got home, she sat me down and we talked, and my dad yelled, and they both told me that I needed to tell you, but I kept telling them that I couldn't. You were my best friend and you were with Terri and you'd cheated and I'd made you." She shook her head and Will shook his own head.

"You didn't make me, Emma. I wanted to." He swallowed and looked up at her with red eyes. "I wanted to."

Emma nodded, looking at him and he stared at her for a moment before replacing his head in his hands. "Go on." He mumbled, falling silent again so Emma could continue.

"We agreed that we would keep it quiet and I would move to Virginia with my grandparents, at least until Willow was born, and then we'd talk about telling you about her. I didn't want to hide it from you, but you and Terri had been together since freshman year and I wasn't about to mess up your relationship with a baby. So I went to Virginia, I got a job there, I had Willow a month before my nineteenth birthday." Emma smiled a little bit, thinking back on it. "I almost called you after she was born, but I couldn't. You'd just gotten married to Terri and I wanted you to be happy. I kept my mouth shut and I stayed in Virginia."

Emma paused again, Will's head bobbing in a nod. "You said you were in Virginia because your grandparents were sick. We talked on the phone once in a while when Terri was out."

"And they really were sick, Will. They both passed away when Willow was three, and I really was taking care of them while I was there. I told you everything about Virginia."

"Not everything." Will said in a quiet whisper. "Not everything."

They remained silent for a few minutes; Emma not really wanting to go on with the next bit of the story, knowing it would possibly hurt him more knowing just how close he came to meeting Willow. Finally, she bit the bullet and went on; he'd find out eventually.

"When my grandparents died, they left me everything. They'd seen me struggling for three years, trying to be a good mom to Willow and trying to get my OCD under control, all while taking care of them and working a job in the evenings after all three of them were asleep. I talked to my mom and dad and they both agreed that it was best for me to sell everything that was left to me, put some of it in a college fund for Willow and put the rest into savings, and that's what I did. I sold their house, their cars...everything. Then I packed up what little things Willow and I had and I moved us to New York. I'd reapplied to Columbia and I was readmitted. At the time, you'd written to me that you made it to Broadway, starring at Prince Dauntless in _Once Upon a Mattress_. After I got to New York, I purchased pretty expensive tickets; one for myself and one for Willow, and we went to see you on opening night. I planned on taking her to the stage door afterward to meet you and—"

"You saw me. She saw me. You came?" He looked up at her, eyes wide and eyebrows high up on his brow. "You…" Will remembered talking to Emma about the show. He had been so excited to be cast that he called her to tell her before he called Terri back in Lima. When she said that she was moving to New York, Will begged her to come, offering to buy her tickets when she said she didn't have the money, pouting when she rejected the offer.

"Lied, yes, I lied. Something I'd become accustomed to doing, thinking I was protecting Willow, but really not wanting to shatter your seemingly perfect world. So I took Willow in secret to watch you and afterwards, in her three-year old babble, she couldn't stop talking about your character, asking me how come he couldn't be her daddy. That was the first time I actually explained to her that you _were _her daddy."

"That should have been the first time you explained to _me_ that I was her daddy." Will said, starting to feel angry, knowing that he was in the same building as her, that he had a chance to know her, and Emma kept that from him. But the more he listened to Emma, the more he understood that she wasn't keeping Willow away because she was being selfish; she really did keep her away because she thought it was the best thing for Will. His theory was further proved as she continued speaking, shaking her head.

"No, Will. It wasn't the right time. I saw you on that stage singing and dancing…you followed your dream. You were so passionate and I knew you well enough to know that you were in Heaven on that stage. You were so thrilled – I could see it in your face. You'd finally achieved your goal and I was not about to tear that away from you by walking into your life after four years and dump the responsibility of being a father onto your shoulders."

"The show only ran for a year and a half, Emma. Then I was done – I was out of Heaven and back on Earth. Why didn't you tell me then? After I was done, right before I returned here to Lima, you and I met for lunch. Why didn't you tell me then?"

Emma looked at him sadly. She could see that he was hurting by all of this, and his want to have known his daughter all of this time was preventing him from remembering the bigger details. "Will, the whole time you were on Broadway, you and Terri were struggling. She couldn't stand being away from you and she couldn't stand that you were successful. Meanwhile you couldn't understand why she didn't want you to be away for so long, and you called me most nights, unable to understand why you two couldn't stop fighting. Again, it wasn't the right time to add Willow into your life equation. By that time, she was starting kindergarten as well, and it was stressful for her to be away from me all day. Her world was shaken up enough and this time I had to factor in Willow's wellbeing more because she was having separation anxiety. It wasn't the right time for either of you."

"There was never a right time, Emma. There is still _never _a right time!" Will stood, shaking his head. He placed on hand on his hip, the other coming to pinch the bridge of his nose as his head bowed down towards the ground. He stood in front of her, squeezing his eyes closed. "But for some reason, you called me last night, crying, telling me that you've messed up and you need to see me and it can't wait until work on Monday and that you're sorry. There is no right time, Emma, no matter how much you want it to be – what makes you think that now is the right time?"

"We're all established." She said, looking up at him. Once they'd moved to New York, Emma found a sitter for Willow, and she took all of her classes in the morning, then once Willow was in kindergarten and elementary school, Emma picked up extra classes as well as a job at a daycare center so she could be with Willow in the afternoons, as well as forcing herself to manage her OCD in messy places. After she graduated, she found out that there was an opening for a counselor at McKinley – thanks to Will – and she moved back, taking up the job. They were established. They'd been in Ohio for six months, her job was going well, Willow was well adjusted to school, and things just felt right.

"What the hell does that mean, Emma?"

"It means we're established. I have a steady job and I'm sure that I'm staying in Lima. Willow's in school and she's adjusting well, your divorce is final, you're doing so well with Glee club…we're all in good places. It just feels like the right time, Will." Emma paused. "And she saw you the other day."

"She what?" Will's hands fell and his eyes opened, gazing down at Emma.

"She saw you. We were driving home from the grocery store and she looked out her window and you were in the car one lane over, just behind us. She turned to me and said 'Momma, Daddy's behind us.' I looked and I nodded, and that night she wouldn't stop talking about you, begging me to let her meet you. She even said she'd give up eating chocolate chip cookies for a month if I agreed." Emma laughed slightly, shaking her head. She'd agreed to the conditions, but had no intentions of stopping Willow from finding cookies in her lunch.

Will's face lit up immediately and he sat down, looking at Emma. "Can – I can meet her?" He asked, smiling a little. "Is she here?"

Emma shook her head. "She's not here. She's at a friend's house for the day. I told her that I needed to talk to you about it first because you might be really mad at me. She asked if it's because lying is bad and I told her that it was really bad and that I just know you're going to love her so much, that it would upset you that you've missed her all this time…she said she missed you, too." Her eyes began to tear up and she looked at Will, shaking her head, "Will, I am so sorry. Ten years is a long time and I know that, and I'm sure you hate me and you have every right to hate me. But I couldn't…I was scared, Will. I was so scared to mess up your life and I was scared that you wouldn't want her and I'm just so sorry."

Will nodded, looking at her. "I don't hate you, Emma. I understand that you were scared, but you could have come to me. I'm just extremely hurt and I hate that I missed out on ten years of her life."

"I know, and I wish I could give that to you, but I can't. I was still a kid, trying to raise my own kid. But I never kept her from you to be malicious, I swear. I only had good intentions at heart."

Will nodded again, swallowing. "I know, Em. You don't have a mean bone in your body."

"Yeah, okay. Ask Willow about that one. I'm always so mean, making her do her homework before television." She laughed a little bit, trying to lighten the mood. "Mean mommy."

"I don't believe it." He said, laughing with her before falling silent again.

"So you want to meet her?" Emma asked, glancing over at him, biting her lip gently.

His head bobbed in a nod. "Yeah…I do."

"You can come over tonight, if you want to. We can all have dinner together."

"I…yeah, I want to." Will said, nodding. He gave Emma a small smile, his stomach becoming nervous at the thought of meeting his child.

"Okay, come by around six." Emma smiled and looked at her watch, sighing. "I need to go pick Wills up from her friend's house. We have a special dinner to plan."

Will's smile widened at her nickname for Willow. His heart both swelled and broke at the same time. "Of course. Six o'clock. I'll see you then."

They each stood and looked at each other for a moment before turning their opposite ways and heading to their cars. Emma stopped after a few steps and turned around. "Will?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"Thanks for not hating me. You're going to love her." She nodded earnestly.

Will nodded and waved at her, turning to go to his car and head home. This was nothing like what he was expecting in his head when he came to see Emma today, and as much as he hated the situation, he loved the news. He was halfway home when he had to pull over to the side of the road, tears streaming from his eyes.

He was a dad.

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**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Glee, Will Schuester or Emma Pillsbury. That is property of Fox and Ryan Murphy.

Willow Jane Schuester **is **my own character, though.


	2. All This and Heaven, Too

**A/N: ** Okay, so just so everybody knows, Willow is 10. She may sound a bit younger. I used my ten year old cousin and a ten year old little sister as templates for her speech patterns, but one of them is sort of young in her speech pattern, so if she sounds younger, I'm sorry. She _is _ten years old, though. R&R loved as always and after this, it should start to get juicier. ;) -Tayma

ALSO: Expect an update to _Streetlights_ within the next couple of days and then _One Condition _hopefully this weekend.

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Chapter 2: All This and Heaven, Too

"Mom, you look really pretty."

Willow sat on the toilet seat lid, watching as her mother put on her make up. She smiled up at her widely as their eyes met, amber falling on hazel.

"Thank you, baby girl. You look pretty, too. Are you excited?" Emma glanced back towards the mirror, finalizing her mascara before moving to pick up Willow, sitting her on the counter so she could fix her hair.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm a little bit scared." Her little voice was a whisper as she looked at her mother in the mirror, her feet resting in the sink, her chin resting on her knees as Emma combed through the back of her daughter's messy curls.

"What are you afraid of, Wills?" Emma grabbed a bottle of detangling spray, spritzing it in Willow's hair before combing through it again. She grabbed a couple of pins and separated the top layer of Willow's hair, braiding it into two braids to secure at the back.

"I don't know. What if he doesn't like me?"

"Honey, that's impossible. You're his daughter, and more than that, you're an amazing kid. You're smart and funny and you're the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen…" Emma secured the two braids together, resting her hands on Willow's shoulders, pressing their cheeks together and looking at her daughter in the mirror. "He's going to love you. Just like I do."

Willow seemed to chew this over for a moment, her eyes meeting her mother's momentarily before looking down at her lap.

"Because he has to? What if he doesn't want to? He hasn't loved me my whole life." Willow was mature for her age, and she always put on a brave face for her mother, but even though she begged to meet her father, she was extremely afraid to do so. She worried he would only want to be near her because he has to because that's what dads do. He wasn't around for the rest of her life, and even though Emma repeatedly promised that it had nothing to do with her, Willow always wondered if maybe that was just one of those things mommies say to make their kids happy.

"Now you listen to me, Willow Jane." Emma said, turning Willow around. She was so tiny for her age, very petite. Her little legs dangled over the edge of the counter and Emma looked her in the eyes, holding Willow's face in her hands gently. "He wants to, and if he didn't, he wouldn't be coming to dinner. I've known your daddy since I was the same age as you, and I promise you that I know this is what he wants, okay?"

"Okay…" Willow mumbled, swallowing.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can ask him, Willow. He doesn't lie to people. Your daddy is a really, really nice man." Emma smiled and kissed Willow's nose, earning a smile in return. She scooped her up and carried her to her room, groaning. "Oh, my wittle Willow's growing up! She's such a big girl. Whatever is Mommy to do?"

"You could put me down!" Willow giggled, squirming in Emma's arms before being placed on the ground.

"Alright, Miss Britches, what on Earth do you feel like wearing tonight?"

The two girls walked over to Willow's closet, looking through the color-coordinated clothes, hanging all in a row. Emma worried about Willow, who insisted her clothes be hung in specific order: by color, then by sleeve-length. Raising her, Emma tried not to let her OCD control everything, but the older Willow got, the more she began exhibiting signs of the disorder. She wasn't as severe as Emma, but she was still particular enough that it had Emma keeping a close eye on her habits. Whether she was or wasn't OCD didn't matter to Emma; she just wanted to make sure to help her the way that she should be.

"Uhm…I like green!"

"Green it is. Oh, that'll be perfect, too, it'll make your eyes pop." Emma reached for a green jumper dress and pulled out a pair of black ballet flats and a black turtle-neck top. She set them out for Willow, waiting to help her zip up the back of the dress. They were silent as Willow dressed, Emma crouching to zip her daughter's dress before they headed to the living room to sit down and wait for Will to arrive.

"Hey, Mommy?" Willow asked, once they were settled on the couch, Emma watching Willow fondly as her daughter started to color in a coloring book. Willow looked up to see her mother watching her and took that as a signal to continue on. "Do…do you, uhm, do you think he'd be mad if I called him 'Dad'?"

Emma's head shook and she leaned forward to kiss Willow's head. "I think he would love it if you called him dad. But you don't have to, Wills. He won't be mad if you call him Will, either." She didn't want to put too much pressure on Willow to call him one or the other. Whichever she felt comfortable with, Emma would support, and she knew Will would, also.

"I know, but I want to." Willow smiled at her mother, her face turning to a look of surprise, excitement, and nerves as the doorbell rang.

Standing, Emma straightened her dress and looked at Willow excitedly, trying to hide the nerves on her own face. "He's here. You ready, Wills?" Willow nodded and Emma moved forward towards the door, Willow following closely behind, hiding behind her mother.

Emma opened the door and a smile spread across her face, her eyes falling to Will. He stood before her, curly hair perfectly mussed, wearing a vest and a white button down paired with a pair of dark denim jeans. He smiled his crooked smile and held out some flowers.

"Hi, Will. Come on in." Emma said, sidestepping to allow him in and biting back a laugh, feeling Willow hiding behind her. It was something she only did when she was really nervous, and she was small enough to still get away with doing so.

"These are for you and Willow." Will handed the flowers to Emma, watching her close the door.

"Thank you. They're beautiful." Emma took the flowers and smelled them before setting them on the table by the door. "Willow's suddenly six and being a little shy." She said, pointing behind her. She turned a little bit and placed a hand on the top of Willow's head. "You nervous?" she asked, feeling a little nod. "Do you need a minute?" She felt another nod and looked at Will apologetically. "I'm sorry. She's excited, she really is. She's just nervous."

"Take your time. I'll, uhm, I'll…"

"Why don't you head straight through to the living room and we'll be in in just a moment."

"Right. Okay, I'll do that." Will sent her a smile again before walking through to the living room, rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans. Damn, he was nervous.

Emma waited a moment before turning around, crouching before Willow and kissing her nose. The little girl remained quiet and Emma frowned a little bit, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "What's the matter, baby girl? Did you change your mind? It's okay if you did, he'll understand."

Willow shook her head.

"Are you feeling sick?"

Another head shake?

"What's wrong?"

"I'll sound like a little kid for being scared."

Emma laughed. "Willow, you are a little kid."

Willow looked at her mother, indignation written all over her face. "I am not a little kid!"

"You're right. I'm sorry, honey. You won't sound like a little kid. It's okay to be scared. Do you remember why it's okay?"

"Because I'm allowed to feel how I feel and nobody can say that it's wrong 'cuz it's not, 'cuz you're a counselor and you say my feelings are just fine."

Emma smiled and nodded. "Exactly. And has your mother ever lied to you? Ever?"

"I don't know." Willow said, giggling.

Emma shook Willow's shoulders playfully. "Yes you do know, silly girl. I've never lied to you. So I'm not lying to you now when I say it's okay to be scared, but there's nothing scary in there. Except his vests, but that is a whole other story."

Willow giggled and nodded, wrapping her arms around Emma's neck and hugging her tightly. "I love you, Mommy." She whispered into Emma's hear, burying her face in her mother's neck.

"I love you, too, honey." Emma hugged her back gently, kissing the side of her head. "So do you want to go meet your daddy? Really meet him and not just see him in a car?"

"Yes!" Willow squealed, stepping back and taking Emma's hand. Emma smiled, taking Willow's hand in hers and leading her into the living room, taking a deep breath.

"Will, this is Willow." Emma said, gesturing between them and looking down at their daughter.

Will's eyes fell on Willow and his breathing caught in his chest. Willow looked almost identical to Emma. She had ginger hair and big, doe eyes that already had Will's heart melting. She was just as petite in stature, but her hair was a mess of curls, just like his own, and her eyes were his exact shade of hazel. He took a moment to breathe again, trying not to let his eyes well up. His daughter was beautiful. "Emma, she's beautiful." He said, biting his lip and taking a step closer. He kneeled down in front of Willow with a soft smile on his face. "Hi, Willow. I'm Will." He said, his hazel eyes locking with hers.

Willow shook her head. "Dad." She corrected him, looking between her mother and Will before her eyes settled on her father. "You're my dad." She said, giving him a small smile. The three fell silent, Will trying not to cry at his new identifier, Emma trying not to cry because of the joy on Will's face. Willow looked up at her mother after a moment and tugged on her shirt, beckoning her down to her level.

"Mommy, can I hug him?" She whispered in Emma's ear, causing Emma to laugh and nod.

"Yep. I think he'd like that." Emma whispered back, patting Willow's back.

Willow looked at her newest parent and swallowed before stepping forward and hugging him gently, her petite arms wrapping around his neck and squeezing gently. Will wrapped his arms around her gently, hugging her close and pressing a small kiss to the side of her head, his tears overflowing. He sniffled as the little girl pulled away and he looked confused, seeing that she was crying, too. Will looked up at Emma, wondering if he did something wrong before glancing back at Willow. "You okay, kiddo?" He asked, wiping her tears with his thumbs.

Willow nodded. "I just never had a dad before."

Will let out a laugh and smiled at her, shaking his head. "I've never had a Willow before, either." It earned him a smile from his daughter and he sighed, wiping his own cheeks.

Emma coughed out a laugh, drying her own tears, sniffling a bit. "Well, should we go eat dinner?" She asked, running a hand over Willow's head gently.

Both Will and Willow nodded and Emma smiled, leading them both to the kitchen. "So I want to warn you about dinner. My idea was that we make my famous lemon pepper chicken with pasta and a salad. However, the lovely Miss Willow begged for PB&J sandwiches instead, insisting that they are better and that you'd probably like them more. As a mom, I'm kinda known for my sandwiches."

"They're the bestest!" Willow said, looking up at Will, a wide smile on her face.

"I remember. Your mother used to make them for me when we were smaller." Will smiled and they all sat down, Emma setting out sandwiches for everyone before sitting down herself. They were all just about to start eating when Willow gasped loudly yelling, "WAIT!"

Willow hopped out of her chair, running to a cupboard and pulling out a giant bottle of sanitizer. "We almost forgot! Clean hands!" She squirted some on her hands, then Emma's, who held her hands open before turning to Will. "Clean hands, Dad! Germs are everywhere!"

Oh yeah. There was that, too. Not just the organization that gave Willow a panic attack if it wasn't done properly. She was also afraid of contamination, just like Emma. Emma looked to Will apologetically as he held out his hands, all of them beginning to rub the solution in.

"Clean hands are important, yes!" Will smiled widely at Willow; his heart was swelling at her calling him 'dad' so easily.

They all began eating in silence after that, each of them unsure of what to say or do. Eventually, Will broke the silence after finishing about half of his sandwich.

"Good call on the sandwiches, Willow. Way better than chicken and vegetables."

Willow giggled, turning to look at Emma. "See, Mommy! I told you! He likes it better than your chicken, and I like it better than salad." Willow made a face, causing both of her parents to laugh.

"Alright, Wills. You win, which means you get to pick dessert."

Willow fist-pumped and turned to her dad, taking a drink of water. "Do you like cookies, Dad?" She placed her glass of water down, sitting up on her chair. "Because I love cookies and they are my favorite. That's what I always pick for dessert even though Mommy always picks gummy dinosaurs."

"I love cookies." Will said, dusting off his hands. "They're my favorite food and I always eat chocolate chip ones in the purple bag."

Willow squealed and practically jumped out of her seat. "THOSE ARE MY FAVORITE, TOO!"

Emma laughed and placed a hand on Willow's shoulder. "Wills, he's two feet away from you. You don't have to yell, baby."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, honey. Hey, why don't you take Will and play for a bit while I clean up the kitchen and then we'll all have cookies, okay?"

Willow nodded and hopped up, all shyness gone after learning they shared the same affinity for the purple-packaged cookies. Will stood as well, offering Emma a smile before allowing Willow to lead him out of the kitchen.

"Hey Dad, do you wanna see my room? It's nice and clean!" Emma laughed a little and started clearing the table, hearing Will reply "I'd love to."

Emma cleaned the kitchen quickly and thoroughly, heading towards Willow's room a half an hour later, smiling as she heard Willow yapping away.

"Yeah, I just really like ladybugs. They're not scary bugs and they're just so cute!" She was explaining why her room was covered in ladybugs; it was one of her favorite discussion topics. She'd picked the theme when she was seven and still loved it more than anything in the world.

"I agree. They're pretty adorable. I like their polka spots on their shells. And they tickle when they crawl on your hands."

Willow giggled. "I dreamed I was a ladybug one time."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I didn't really like being one, though."

"Why not?"

"Because when I would scurry around, my hands were always on the floor. That's just icky."

Emma peaked into the room, seeing the two of them sitting at a little table in the corner of Willow's room, each of them with a coloring book in front of them, coloring away. She crept past the door and sat against the wall in the hallway, continuing to listen. They'd fallen quiet, but she didn't want to interrupt their bonding time just yet.

"I'm named after you, you know." Willow piped up after a minute. Emma could hear her hand fishing for a new crayon in her giant bucket.

"I've heard. You're Willow Jane and I'm William James."

"Yup. And I'm Wills and you're Will. I think it's funny."

"Why is that?"

"Well, all the girls at school have pretty names and all the boys are named after their dads. I got a pretty name _and _I'm named after my dad. It's just funny."

Will chuckled slightly. "That is pretty funny. Do you like it?"

There was silence, which Emma took as a nod. Willow loved her name and when she was eight she insisted on only being called Willow Jane because she thought it was beautiful. After a few more minutes, Emma stood up, walking into the room.

"Are we having fun?"

"Yes!" They both said, each of them looking at Emma and laughing a bit.

"That's great. Hey, Willow, so it's getting kinda late, baby girl. Grandma and Grandpa are coming in the morning, remember?"

Willow sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Cookies, teeth, bed?"

Emma smiled. "Yes, cookies, teeth, bed."

"Does Dad have to leave?"

"Dad can leave whenever he's ready to." Emma said, smiling at Will. "But I know he won't leave before cookies, since they're both your favorites. So put your jamas on, ladybug, and then you can come have some cookies, okay?" She leaned over and kissed Willow's head gently as the little girl nodded. Emma leaned to unzip the back zipper before walking out of the room with Will, heading towards the kitchen. They entered the quiet room, Emma getting the cookies down and putting a few on a plate.

"She seems to be taking a liking to you."

Will nodded. "She does. She's beautiful, Emma, and so well behaved. You've done really well with her, honest."

"Thank you. She's beautiful because of you, you know. You're responsible for those curls and that crooked smile." Emma smiled, looking up at him. "You're being really great with her right now."

"It's easy, you know? She's a great kid."

Emma grinned widely as Willow ran into the kitchen, stopping their conversation. "I am ready for the best part of the day!" Willow exclaimed, scrambling up to sit on a stool by the counter. Emma handed her three cookies and some water, laughing a little bit.

"I thought Willow-Mommy breakfast muffins were the best part of the day." She said, handing Will some cookies, too, nibbling on her own.

"I think all parts of the day are the best part of the day." Willow took a bite of her cookie. "Nope. Cookie time is the best part."

Will laughed, nodding. "I agree with Willow. Cookies are always best."

Half an hour later, cookies were eaten and coffee was made. Will nursed a hot cup while he sat on the couch. Willow had just come to him to tell him goodnight, giving him another hug. He smiled to himself, looking into the hot cup of liquid, his mind wandering. He couldn't believe he had a daughter – a daughter with _Emma _nonetheless, and a perfect one at that. She was beautiful; he couldn't just get over it.

As he pondered Emma took Willow to her room, kissing her forehead and saying their prayers on their knees before helping her into bed, tucking her in tightly. Emma leaned to kiss her cheek and looked down at her, smoothing her hair back.

"Did you have a good time tonight, Willow?" Emma asked, still smoothing Willow's hair away from her face.

Willow nodded, looking up at her mother. "Yeah. I love having a dad."

Emma laughed. "You think so, bug?"

"Mhm! He likes to color and he likes all the same things I do. Can he come see me again?"

"Sure. I'm sure he'd love to come see you again." Emma kissed Willow's forehead. "Now go to sleep, okay? We'll get up early and have our special Sunday breakfast before your grandparents get here, alright?"

"Can Dad come?" The young girl yawned, her eyes starting to droop. Now that she had a dad, she wasn't about to let him go away forever again. She wanted him around always.

"I'll ask him. I love you with all of my heart, Willow Jane." Emma stood and moved to switch on the nightlight.

"I love you more, Mommy Emma."

Emma laughed, walking out of the room and closing the door. She sighed and walked down the hallway, heading towards the living room.

"Hi." She walked over and sat next to Will, picking up her own cup of coffee from a coaster on the coffee table.

"Hey."

"She says she loves having a dad."

Will chuckled and sipped his coffee. "That's sweet. She's…God, Emma. I can't stop saying it. She's beautiful. I…I wish I knew her all this time. I want so badly to stay in her life."

"You absolutely can, Will. I'm not going to keep you from that anymore. You have every right to see your daughter. We'll have to hammer out times and everything to fit her schedule, but you can absolutely stay in her life if you want to – and even if you don't, I don't think she'd let you out again." Emma sipped her own coffee, looking at him. "She does have your last name."

"She…does?"

"Yes. When she was born I had Pillsbury put on her birth certificate, but after we moved to New York, I decided to give her the last name that's rightfully hers. Willow Jane Schuester."

"Somehow, Emma, even though it's terrible being lied to and it hurts like nothing else…you've managed to make it okay. You named her after me, you raised her well, you seem to have done so well for yourself…you make it okay. I can't even be fully angry with you. Just disappointed."

Emma sighed. "I had to make it okay. I knew some time would come where she'd want to find you, whether it was up to me or not, and I wanted you to love her and be proud of her. I wanted you to look at her and say 'That's my daughter. I helped create her.' I had to make everything good."

"Well you did."

"Well thank you." Emma smiled and took a drink of coffee. "Listen, tomorrow morning, I'm making waffles with fruit and homemade syrup, and eggs…it's our Sunday morning tradition since I became a student. I couldn't always spend all the time with her, but we made sure to spend time together Sunday mornings. Would, uhm, would you like to join us? Willow asked before she went to sleep."

Will shook his head, holding up a hand. "Thanks, but I don't want to intrude. If that's your thing with her, I don't want to take time away from you two."

Emma let out a laugh and looked at him. "Nonsense. Come. I've spent time with her for her whole life. You're new and she's so thrilled to have you in her life, Will. Please come."

"Okay. I'll come." Will nodded and watched Emma as she smiled and took a sip of coffee. He watched her tongue dart out and mop away the moisture on her lips from it, tucking her tongue back away as her lower lip became caught in her teeth. "You're beautiful, too, Emma."

She blushed deeply, looking down at her cup. "Thanks. That's sweet, but you…thanks." She cleared her throat and took another gulp of coffee, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"I'm serious, Emma. Just as beautiful as you were at the beach all those years ago." Will set his coffee down on a coaster, shifting to take her coffee and set it on a coaster. He took her hands in his, squeezing them gently, looking into her eyes. "Do you ever regret it?"

Emma looked at Will, her breath caught in her throat. How had this taken such a swift turn? Was he reading her mind? Did he know she still carried a tiny torch for him? She bit her lip harder and cleared her throat, shaking her head.

"N-no. Never." She whispered, looking into his eyes. "She's my entire world. I wouldn't trade her for anything."

Will nodded, looking at her. "Would you regret it if you didn't get our daughter out of it?"

Emma's head shook again. "No. Will, I loved you, even when you loved someone else. I wanted that night; I needed it. I needed to at least imagine that someone loved me like that before I went away."

"And?" Will asked, hoping he'd given her what he needed.

"And nine months later, I got the most beautiful, unconditional love in the world. You gave me more than what I needed."

Will gave her a small smile, which she returned with a whispered, "Thank you."

They gazed at each other for a moment before Emma swallowed, sitting up more. "So tomorrow morning? Breakfast? We're usually up around seven-thirty, breakfast around eight-thirty."

Will's head nodded and he smiled. "I'd love to. I'll pick up coffees on the way and a hot chocolate for Willow, if that's okay?"

"It's perfect."

They stood, Emma following Will to the front door and opening it.

"Thank you so much, Emma, for letting me meet her. It's truly a blessing to be given that opportunity."

"You're welcome, Will. Now please, stop thanking me. She's your daughter; it just took me ten years to grow a pair and tell you."

Will laughed. "Grow a pair. Beautiful. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Em."

"See you."

Will leaned down and kissed the corner of Emma's lips gently before dashing out of the door and heading to his car, hoping in and heading away. Emma watched him leave, closing the door and locking it. She grabbed their cups from the coffee table, taking them to the sink and washing them before putting them away, turning off all of the lights and heading to her room.

Emma changed for bed quickly washing her face and brushing her teeth before settling into bed. She looked at the clock, realizing it was already almost midnight. She sighed, sinking into the pillows, but not really tired. She turned on the television, turning it to an old movie, smiling when she saw that _Meet Me in St. Louis _was playing. Judy Garland was by far one of her favourite actresses, and this movie was brilliant. She closed her eyes, listening to everything that was happening, zoning in and out every so often, thinking of her own thoughts.

Tonight was a good move, she decided. Telling Will was the right thing to do, and he deserved to know. If he really wanted to be in Willow's life, she wouldn't stop him. Her mind kept going to their moment on the couch, the way he'd leaned into her, the way he gazed into her eyes. She thought for sure they would kiss, maybe reignite whatever they attempted to extinguish on the beach when she was eighteen. _Maybe there's still hope_, she thought, _Maybe I can get Willow her dad and get those ten years back for Will and I at the same time._

"Ugh, Emma. Don't be selfish." She said out loud, tossing over. "But I'm not being selfish. He's the reason I haven't dated in ten years; he's the one I want." She sighed. "Ugh, but Willow. Willow comes first. This is about Willow, Emma. Focus on her and then if you and Will are meant to become a solid part of the equation, then it will happen." She tossed once more. "You know you're crazy, right?"

Emma laughed, sitting up and turning off the television. "WHAT IS MY LIFE?" She asked out loud, shaking her head and closing her eyes as she laid back down, in disbelief that she actually held a conversation with herself. If that wasn't proof that she was tired, she had no idea what was. The last thing she remembered thinking before drifting off was how happy she was that Willow now had her dad.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **Still don't own Glee, Emma or Will.

Willow Jane Schuester is still mine (:


	3. Looking Back to Move Forward

**A/N: **In case you're wondering why it's in itallics, this whole chapter is a flashback (: R&R loved as always! -Tayma

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Chapter 3: Looking Back to Move Forward

_The sun was hot against her face as she lay back against a beach towel. Her head was propped up on a pillow she'd snagged from the hotel and her legs were crossed at the ankles. The massive sunhat on her head did nothing to shield the sun's heat from her fair skin, her freckles darkening by the second. A warm hand slid beneath hers, threading its fingers with hers. Her eyes fluttered open under the sunglasses on her face and she turned to see the owner of the hand lying on the towel next to her. She gave the hand a small squeeze and smiled at him, sighing._

"_Will, this has been amazing. It really has; thank you for inviting me." Emma reached up with a freehand and pulled away her sunglasses, turning her whole person to face him._

"_It was you or my brother, and I figured a pretty girl next to me on the beach was better than a hairy brother."_

_Emma laughed. "That's such a nice sentiment."_

_The past five days had been pure heaven for Emma and Will. He'd planned a vacation for himself to California during the final week before him, Emma, and Terri were set to go their separate ways to school. He and Terri would be going to OSU while Emma was headed to Columbia in New York. Will was mildly jealous of his best friend – she got to go study in his dream city while he was stuck in Ohio. Not that he was complaining, though; he'd be able to stay with Terri and keep her happy. He'd miss Emma, though. Too much. When he threw the California idea in Terri's direction, she'd become livid, saying that she couldn't' t possibly leave Lima now, not when summer was coming to a close and all her cheerleading friends were leaving soon. So he'd offered to Emma, who jumped at the opportunity to spend a whole week with Will to herself._

_Emma had feelings for Will that went far deeper than best friendship. They'd met when they were ten and became so close. By the time they started high school, she was sure that she loved him, but he found Terri and loved her instead. Emma supposed having him as a best friend was better than not having him at all, but Terri did a lot to make sure Emma was excluded. The amount of dates she had Will take her on was appalling, monopolizing as much of his time as she could. Emma understood that when someone gets into a relationship, their priorities changed, but she couldn't help but miss Will terribly and take advantage of every single second that they had alone. When he told her that it would be just the two of them on this trip, she said yes before the offer had been completed. Time alone was just what they needed before going their separate ways._

_But now that time was coming to a close. It was their final night in California, their final night at the beach. Tomorrow evening, they would fly back to Lima and everything in their lives would change. They'd have to grow up._

_She glanced down at their hands intertwined and sighed. To say that their week away had been completely platonic would be a lie. They'd kissed a few times, slept on the same bed because it was cheaper than two rooms, and fell into the habit of holding hands. Emma figured it was just habit for him from having Terri's hand in his, but she knew for a fact it wasn't just a habit to wrap his arms around her waist as they slept in the overly air conditioned hotel room._

"_What was that for?" Will asked, referring to the sigh. Emma shrugged._

"_Everything's going back to normal tomorrow night. No more California. No more sun. No more seeing your face every day, even if only briefly. There won't be any more TCM movie marathons when it's an old actor or actress we find appealing. There'll be no more this." She lifted their hands, shrugging again. "It's just a bit sad."_

_He nodded, listening to her speak. She had a point. Tomorrow was their last day of a lot of things in their life that had become habit. "But there will be phone calls, Em. There will definitely be visits to New York to see you and the city. There will be Skype calls so I can see your face, and the sun shines down on New York just like it does here."_

"_It's not the same, though." Emma shook her head, sitting up and pulling her hand from his. "You have no idea what this past week has been like for me, what everything's meant to me. I don't want to go back."_

_Will looked at her, confused. "What do you mean what 'everything' has meant to you? Everything what? Laying on the beach every day and talking? We did what we do in Lima all the time, except instead of being on the hammocks in your back yard, we're on towels against the sand." Emma looked at him as he spoke, remaining silent for a moment afterward, nodding slightly and swallowing._

"_Wow. Okay, well forget it, then. It meant nothing. I guess I mistook everything that you were doing as some sort of signal." Emma stood up and started walking down the beach, pressing her hat onto her head and placing her sunglasses back onto her nose to hide the look of embarrassment on her face._

"_Emma, what are you talking about?" He called after her, standing with his hands upturned in confusion._

_She stopped and turned, shaking her head. "I thought you were just acting clueless to protect me for the past four years, but maybe I was wrong about that, too. I'm talking about this, Will!" She gestured between them, walking towards him and stopping a few feet from him. She pulled her sunglasses off and looked him in the eyes, trying to read his face. "All week you've been kissing me and flirting with me, holding my hand…you sleep with your arms around me and your face pressed into my shoulder, and maybe I'm just really stupid romantically, but if those aren't screaming signals, I don't know what the hell they are."_

_His eyes locked with hers and he could see hurt on her face as he tried to form a coherent thought. They were signals…sort of. He didn't know how to tell her that he cared about her in ways that he shouldn't, considering the current relationship he was in with his girlfriend of four years. Will's head shook and he swallowed hard. "What does the past week have anything to do with the past four years?"_

"_It has __**everything**__ to do with the past four years!" Tears were brimming in her eyes. "I don't know what else I could have done to show you for __**four. whole. years. **__that I love you and I care about you more than a best friend should. I've asked you to girl's choice dances that Terri said were stupid, I sat with you all spring break sophomore year when you had tonsillitis, even though my OCD was making it near impossible to breathe the same air as you, I sat front row at every Glee competition you were in, I've never missed your birthday, I sign every freaking card Emma with a heart after my name, I mean how could I have made it clearer?" Emma blinked, causing a tear to fall onto her cheek. Will instinctively reached to wipe it away, but she jerked back. "Don't." When Will remained silent, she backed away, wiping her cheeks and starting to walk along the beach, away from him. She heard him calling after her, but the fact that his voice was getting quieter just proved that he wasn't chasing after her, and she'd been chasing a dream that wasn't hers to want._

-x-x-x-

_After walking away from Will at the beach, Emma forced herself onto a bus back to the hotel. She didn't want to be outside anymore and she didn't want to cry in public. She'd gone straight up to the room she and Will were paying for, sighing when he wasn't there. She went to shower, scrubbing away the germs from the bus and the rejection that was plaguing her. An hour and a half later, she emerged from the bathroom, pink-skinned and red-eyed. The moment the water hit her skin, the tears began to flow and hadn't ceased the entire time. Tears were still falling as she collapsed on the bed in her pajamas, shutting the light off and facing away from the door._

_How could she be so stupid? How could she actually think that he cared about her the way she cared about him? She never thought she'd be one of those delusional girls who tricked themselves into picking up signs that weren't being put up. Yet, here she was, crying in a dark hotel room at six forty-seven, wondering how she could be so stupid._

_The tears finally stopped after another half an hour and she remained laying beneath the fresh sheets, curled into a ball. She was dreading Will coming back to the hotel and she was actually eager for tomorrow to come so she could go back home, then head to New York and not have to see Will for a very, very long time._

_After Emma left Will at the beach, he felt awful. He could tell by the hunch in her shoulders when she walked that she was crying and upset. He should have just told her that he did feel about her the way that she wanted him to, but he couldn't. He would have to talk to Terri first and clear up their relationship before he could attempt something deeper with Emma. He wasn't a dishonest man, and if he were in Terri's position, he would want to be warned before suddenly being dropped for a best friend. But Emma was there before Terri. What if he lost her? Would he lose her? He doubted it. Their friendship was deep and ten years old. He didn't think he would lose her over staying with Terri. She was going to New York in two days, after all. He spent hours walking along the beach, debating what to do and what to say to Emma. He couldn't leave her hanging, but he couldn't abandon Terri and give in to Emma. There had to be a good balance somewhere, right? Right. _

_When Will entered the hotel lobby at eight-fifteen, he knew exactly what to do. He was going to explain to Emma that he loved her and he would do anything for her, but he had to stay with Terri, at least while he sorted out his feelings for her, especially with her heading to New York. There was a lot to work through, but he knew he'd be able to do it. He took the elevator to their floor, hurrying to their room and ramming his key card into the door. He opened it to find darkness within, but caught a glimpse of a lump on the bed before the door closed off the corridor's light. Walking over, Will slipped off his shoes before getting onto the edge of the bed. He crawled over to Emma and placed a hand on her shoulder gently._

"_Em?" He asked quietly, but got no response. Clearing his throat, he shook her gently. "Emma?"_

_Emma sighed and swallowed, tucking her hands under her cheek and continuing to stare at the wall. "What."_

"_Can you look at me, please?" Emma didn't move, but she shook her head and Will heard a small squeak. He closed his eyes and let his head fall forward a bit, feeling awful; that was her 'I'm trying not to cry' noise that betrayed her every time she attempted to hide it. Will reached his arm around her middle, resting his head against hers and his chin on her shoulder. "Can you listen to me at least?" She remained silent, but her back pressing against his chest gave him his answer; she was listening. Will took a minute to compose his thoughts before squeezing her middle gently in a hug._

"_You weren't mistaking anything that I was doing, Emma. I was signaling you and I was fully aware that I was doing so. I love Terri, Em, I do, but this week with you has got me second-guessing everything that I think I want with her. I do love you, but I just don't see how we can work with you going to New York, and I don't even know what I would do as far as Terri is concerned." He stopped speaking, letting out a small sigh. Emma shifted in his arms and moved to lie on her back, looking at him as he hovered over her. She chewed her lip before coughing a little._

"_I don't know whether that's supposed to comfort me or allow me to continue feeling stupid because I'm second best." Her eyes met his in the darkness and she sniffled as her throat began to tighten from more threatening tears. "I feel used, you know? Like an emotional placeholder during your week away from your girlfriend."_

"_You're not an emotional placeholder, Emma. You're my best friend. I do love you, you know. I may have a terrible way of showing it, and maybe this past week was a complete mistake, all of the kisses and hand-holding, but I do love you. I just don't know how to say so."_

"_It wasn't a mistake," was her response after a few minutes of silent staring at each other. "It was a mistake to keep your feelings from me, but this week wasn't a mistake. I'm sorry for walking away from you earlier. I just didn't know how to handle myself while feeling so rejected."_

_Will shook his head. "Don't feel sorry, Emma. You were right. I don't know how you could have made your emotions clearer without tipping off Terri. I'm sorry that I was blind, but I'll do anything for you, Emma. You know that, right?"_

_She nodded, taking a breath. "When you say anything…" she said hesitantly, looking down and away from him, licking her lips and playing with her fingers. Will moved his head to meet her eyes, taking his hand and placing it under her chin, tilting her face towards his._

"_I mean absolutely anything aside from breaking up with Terri before I figure out you and me."_

_Emma looked up at him and she swallowed. She knew what she wanted to ask, and for her, it was a big deal. She wondered if Will knew what she was thinking, if he was aware of what she would ask of him. Did he know that he'd walked into a trap, or had he fallen in accidentally? Her heart started racing and she tried to keep her breathing calm as the sentence began to bubble up her throat to her tongue. It sat against her lips for a moment before she breathed out, "Make love to me? Please?"_

_Will looked at her, holding her eyes with his. He had a feeling this would be her request, and he knew it was a big deal. They'd discussed many, many times the fact that they were probably the only two graduating seniors who were still virgins. Even Terri lost hers when she and Will went on a break during their junior year. He knew that Emma was mildly frightened of the activity and that it made her nervous and she wanted to save it for the person she loved most. If this was her subtle way of telling him that he was who she loved most, he was picking up what she was saying. _

"_Anything." Will breathed out before smashing his lips against hers, probably more eagerly than he should have. They took it slow, both of them experiencing this for the first time, and eventually, all of their clothes were on the floor, and the room suddenly wasn't so cold anymore._

-x-x-x-

_The pair lay in silence, staring at each other and holding each other in the darkness of their hotel room. It was midnight, but neither of them felt like sleeping. It would make time pass too quickly, which meant that too quickly, everything was going to change, but for now, they just loved each other. They showed it with each touch and each glance. Each loving embrace and each whispered 'I love you.' It was beautiful and passionate. It was almost perfect for a shared first time. Almost. Their actions meant the world to Emma, her love for Will solidifying by that night. Will's love for Emma was proven, but it wasn't solidified, exactly. There was still the underlying ton of guilt. But each of them loved each other._

"_Are you okay now?" Will asked, leaning forward and kissing Emma's lips gently. He reached up and pushed her hair out of her face gently._

_She smiled against his lips and when he pulled away; her eyes were smiling as well. She sniffled and nodded, sighing. "I'm sorry for crying, I just..." His lips silenced hers again and he pulled away to look at her, their noses brushing. _

"_Don't be sorry, Emma. As long as I didn't hurt you, you have every right to cry."_

_Emma laughed a bit. "No, you were perfect. You're perfect. Thank you." She smiled at him and let out a breath. _

"_I love you, Emma. I'm going to hate saying goodbye to you when you leave for New York."_

_She swallowed. "I'm going to hate saying goodbye, too, but it needs to be done. It's not forever, but it's necessary for us to become our own people. I mean…and I know this is going to be a killjoy, but you have a relationship to work on, and I just made you cheat so it's probably best." Her eyes began to tear a bit and she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for making you dishonest." She sat up and wrapped the sheet around herself, looking over at him as the weight of their actions began to fall on her._

_Will sat up next to her and took her face in his hands, shaking his head. "Emma, listen to me. You have not made me dishonest. I'm going to come clean with Terri after you're on your plane to New York. I have no reason to lie to her about what we did. It meant a lot to me, and she was with someone when we were on a break, so she can't really judge after the drama that created for us." He leaned forward and kissed her eyes to prevent the tears from falling. "Do not be sorry, Emma."_

_Emma nodded, looking at him. She reached over and hugged him, burying her face in his neck. "I love you, Will. I can love you as a best friend, I can love you as a girlfriend, I can love you as whatever you want me to. Just tell me, okay?"_

_He nodded, hugging her tightly. They lay down after that and fell asleep in each other's arms, waking up late the next morning to a loud ringing coming from Will's phone. Emma groaned as Will rolled away from her, reaching for his pants on the floor and pulling his cell out of the pocket. He cleared his throat and hit the answer button, holding it up to his ear._

"_Hello?" He sat up and ran a hand over his face, Emma turning to look at him before yawning and stretching. "Oh, hey, Ter. Yeah, we get in late tonight, around one in the morning. Of course. No, her brother's picking her up. Yep. Okay, honey, I love you, too." He hung up the phone and lay back against the pillows, sighing. He glanced over at Emma who sighed and pulled a blanket from the foot of the bed, wrapping it around herself and heading towards the bathroom._

"_Emma?" Will asked, sitting up and looking at her. _

"_Let's just pretend last night never happened." She nodded and walked into the bathroom, dropping the sheet outside of the door and closing it behind herself, moving to start up the shower. She stepped underneath the hot water and let it run over her body. It was a new day. Today, everything changed, and yet at the same time, everything stayed the same. _


	4. Why Can't We Be Honest?

__**A/N: **If the Spanish I used in here is wrong, blame Google Translate. I haven't been in a Spanish class in 3 years. Woops. R&R loved as always! _One Condition_ will be updated soon! -Tayma

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Chapter 4: Why Can't We Be Honest?

_BEEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEP!_

A groan escaped Emma's lips as her hand slid from beneath her pillow, hovering over the alarm clock for a moment before slamming down onto hit, turning it off and stopping the high-pitched beeping. A deep breath was taken through her nose before she flipped over and ran a hand over her face, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. Her eyes glanced at the clock on her nightstand and it read 7:05 am. Time to get up and get started with the day. She threw the blankets off of her legs and got out of bed, stretching widely.

**A startled snore escaped Will's mouth as he jolted awake, a hand slipping from beneath his pillow, hovering over the alarm clock for a moment before slamming his hand down on it, lifting it up and throwing it onto the floor. Damn alarms. A deep breath was taken through his nose as he flipped over, rubbing his face with his hands. He sat up and glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It read 7:05 am. Time to make a good impression on his daughter and his daughter's mother. He threw the blankets off of his legs and got out of bed, picking up the alarm clock and placing it back on the nightstand before stretching widely.**

Emma walked over to her dresser, pulling out her cute plaid pajama shorts and a grey t-shirt that said 'My Eyes Are Up There'. She laughed every time she grabbed the shirt that a friend from college got all of the girls in their small group. Her friend always had men staring at her chest and it became a running joke so she had shirts made for all of them. Walking into the bathroom, Emma brushed her teeth, then changed into the t-shirt and shorts, looping the ribbon waistband into a bow and pulling it tight. She ran a brush through her hair, securing it into a high ponytail and allowing her wispy bangs to fall against her face, throwing on a bit of mascara for good measure. She slipped into her fluffy slippers and grabbed her phone, texting Will. _Pajamas mandatory. See you soon. E._ She placed the phone in her shorts waistband and shuffled to Willow's room.

**Will walked over to his dresser to pick out a tie and button down for the day when his phone buzzed. He grabbed it from its charging place on the dresser and opened a text, laughing a bit. It was possible that this was just Emma doing one of her jokes, but he'd comply should she be serious. He typed out an **_**Okay. See you soon. **_**And hit send before opening a different drawer. He pulled out a grey t-shirt and plaid pajama pants before going to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and changed into the t-shirt and shorts, looping the drawstrings into a knot and pulling them tight. He ran his hands through his hair, wetting it a bit with water, but his curls wouldn't lay flat. He slipped on his Chuck Taylors and dropped his phone into his pants pocket, heading towards Max's room.**

Throwing the door open, Emma smiled, seeing Willow curled up on her bed, her hands under her chin. She walked over and crouched by her bed, kissing her forehead and shaking her shoulder gently. When Willow stirred, Emma smiled and ran a hand over her head. "Good morning, Princess. Daddy's coming to breakfast today!" That perked Willow right up and she shot up, smiling widely.

"He is?" Her face looked like it would break in half.

"He sure is, baby girl! So get on your cutest pajamas, brush that curly hair of yours, and meet me in the kitchen." She smiled widely and kissed Willow's head, watching her scramble to get her jammies. Emma made up Willow's bed quickly before leaving her to get ready, walking to the kitchen to start breakfast.

**Throwing the door open, Will smiled, seeing Max curled up on his bed, his paws under his head. He walked over and crouched by his bed, rubbing behind his ears gently. When Max opened his lazy doggy eyes, Will smiled, patting his head. "Hey, buddy! We gotta get you fed because I'm going to see my other child today. My real child who talks and can use the bathroom on her own and is biologically mine. But that doesn't mean I don't love you any less, bud."**

**He laughed when Max barked and shook his head. Sometimes, it was like they understood each other. He stood up and clapped his hands together, watching Max perk up. "Alright! Breakfast time!" He pointed out the door and watched Max take off before following him to the kitchen.**

Emma moved to the pantry, getting out the bag of waffle mix and taking it to the counter. She reached up and got a large metal bowl out of a cabinet and filled it with the powder, adding in some water and mixing it together rapidly. She reached under the sink and got out the waffle iron, plugging it in and heating up. She was just about to start cutting up some fresh strawberries when Willow traipsed into the kitchen, wearing her pajamas that matched Emma's, except her grey shirt said 'So Sweet I Melt in the Rain.'

"We're matching!" Willow said happily, her hair even pulled into a messy curly ponytail. Emma giggled and walked over, kissing her cheek gently.

"We sure do and I love when we match."

"I'm your mini-me!"

Emma giggled and so did Willow. "Yep! Sure are! Would you like to set the table, mini-me?"

Willow nodded and Emma handed her the dishes, watching her go to the table. She finished cutting and washing the fruit before starting to pour the waffle batter into the waffle iron.

**Will moved to the pantry, getting out the bag of dog food and taking it to the counter. He reached down and got the large metal dog food bowl from the floor and filled it with the kibbles, setting it on the floor and picking up Max's water dish, filling it at the sink and setting it down by his food bowl. He put the food bag back and stood watching Max eat all of his food and lap up some water. When he was finished, Will wrestled around with him for a bit to get a bit of exercise in before looking at the clock. It was seven-thirty. He still had to go get coffee for Emma before heading over there.**

"**Alright, Max. Back to your room, let's go." Will walked down the hall, whistling, holding Max's door open and letting him inside.**

"**I'll be back later, buddy, and then we'll go for a walk. Don't do too much damage in here, okay?" He looked at him seriously before closing the door and heading down the hallway, grabbing his keys and heading out to his car. He got in quickly and buckled up, turning on the car and pulling out of his spot, putting the car in drive and setting off towards the Lima Bean.**

Emma finished up making the waffles and placed all of them into a plate, placing a cover on them and taking them to the table. She smiled, watching Willow arrange a small bunch of flowers into a cup in the center of the table. Emma and Willow had a small flower garden in their backyard and Emma agreed to let her pick some so their breakfast today would be super special. They were just finishing the table setting when the doorbell rang and Willow yelped with excitement, running to the door and working to unlock it. Emma followed after her with a smile, glancing at the clock to see that it was eight-fifteen.

**Will hurried to the Lima Bean, pulling up to the drive through and ordering two vanilla lattes, one with soy and each with an extra vanilla pump. He then ordered a hot chocolate with cinnamon, asking them to hold off on the whipped cream. If Emma was still as anti-dairy as she'd been when they were younger, she doubted Willow liked dairy. He pulled up to the window, handing over payment and taking the holder of hot drinks. He flashed a smile to the woman behind the window and drove cautiously towards Emma's place, not wanting to spill any of their drinks. As Will pulled into her driveway, he looked at the clock and did a little fist pump. It was eight-fifteen; good timing. He shut off his car and grabbed the cup carrier in one hand, getting out and locking his car before walking up to Emma's front door, clad in his pajamas and rang the doorbell, bouncing nervously and excitedly as he heard the door unlocking.**

Willow pulled open the door and smiled widely, stepping out of the way for Will to come in, a giggle escaping her lips when she saw what he was wearing. Plaid pants and a grey t-shirt. She looked between herself and Emma and her father, the fact that they were all wearing the same thing tickled her pink.

"We all match!" She squealed out, moving forward to hug her mother around the legs.

"Good morning, ladies!" Will said, stepping through and closing the door behind himself. He smiled widely at Willow and Emma, letting out a laugh. "So we do match. I thought you were kidding about pajamas." He said, glancing at Emma.

"Oh, no. I take pajama Sunday very seriously." Emma laughed and patted Willow's head before gesturing towards the kitchen. "Lead the way, bug."

Willow took off towards the breakfast table, Emma and Will following after her. "I got you a soy vanilla latte; I think that's what you drink at work every day." Will handed her a cup as they reached the table, picking up another and handing it to Willow. "And I got you cinnamon hot chocolate."

His daughter's wide eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, taking it from him. Was he magic? How did he know that she drank her hot chocolate like that? "Thank you!"

They all sat down and Willow scooted her chair a little bit closer to Will, looking over at him. A smile was stuck on her face as she glanced at him, watching him look at her mother with a wide smile on his face. "Everything looks great, Em. Thanks for inviting me." Em. He called her mother 'Em.' Her dad was so cool.

"Of course, Will. Thank you for coming." Emma placed waffles on all of their plates, along with fruit, her eyes flitting towards Willow every so often. The nervousness from last night seemed to have disappeared as her eyes bored into her father's face, her cheeks turning pink every time he caught her staring and flashed her a brilliant smile.

As they started eating, Emma giggled a little bit and shook her head. "Wills, he's not going to disappear, honey. Eat your breakfast."

Willow quickly complied, but her eyes kept falling to Will's.

"So, Willow, any dreams of being a ladybug last night?" He asked, glancing at Willow as he continued to eat with them, causing her to giggle.

"No, Daddy. That was only once, but I did dream about waffles. I always do on Saturdays because Sundays are the best breakfast days. My mom's a good cook, huh?" She asked, forking a blueberry and a strawberry, popping both of them in her mouth and chewing quickly.

"She's a great cook." Will smiled at Willow and Emma who muttered a thank you, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. "So are you glad it's summer?" Will asked, taking a sip of his latte and watching his daughter nod. God, she was so perfect. How did he manage that?

"Yeah, I love summer because Mommy's always home. She doesn't have school, and sometimes she has work, but we always get to be together." She smiled widely at Emma who returned the sentiment, continuing to eat, finishing up her breakfast a few minutes later, but continuing to remain silent. "Do you like summer?" Willow finished eating and turned in her seat to look at her dad.

"I do. It means that I don't have work which is pretty nice. Unfortunately, my summer doesn't start for another week."

"That's when Mom's starts, too!"

Will and Emma laughed. "Well I work with your mom."

"You're a counselor, too? So you understand that everyone's feelings are okay and never wrong? That's what Mommy always says." Willow smiled and took a drink of her hot chocolate. It tasted better than it usually did and she wondered if it was because it actually was that good, or if it was better because her dad bought it for her.

His head shook and he sat back, folding his hands over his stomach. "No, I'm not a counselor. I'm a teacher. I teach Spanish and Glee Club, which is a singing group at school."

Willow's eyes widened and she smiled widely. "That's so cool! My dad is so cool! Can you speak Spanish?" Both Will and Emma started laughing at her enthusiasm and it took Will a moment before he could speak again.

"I sure can. Would you like me to say something?"

Willow nodded. He thought for a moment before smiling at Emma and then turning to look at Willow again.

"No te he conocido por un día entero, pero yo ya te quiero tanto mi hermosa hija." Willow giggled at his words. They sounded so different and he changed his accent and his tongue was rolling, and it just sounded so funny to her, but by the look on his face, Willow knew that it was something serious.

"What did you say?" She asked, glancing at her mother. "Do you know what he said?"

Emma nodded, her eyes brimmed with tears. She did know what he said, having minored in Spanish at Columbia, hoping that being somewhat fluent in the language would improve her chances of getting a well-paid job after graduation. Willow's eyes moved back to her father, her eyes curious.

Will bit his cheek for a moment before clearing his throat, looking at Emma, wondering if he crossed a line. When he saw her smiling, he knew that he hadn't and he turned to Willow, speaking out the sentence in English. "I haven't known you for a whole day, but I already love you so much my beautiful daughter."

Her eyes fell on his as he spoke and she swallowed, thinking over his sentence. That was something big to her. She got to meet her dad _and _he loved her? _And _Emma hadn't made him tell her so? It meant that he actually loved her and not just because he had to because that's something that dads are supposed to do. Willow took a breath and smiled widely, playing with her t-shirt gently. "How do you say I love you, too, Dad in Spanish?" She asked.

"Te quiero tambien." Will said, smiling at her.

Willow attempted the Spanish, but had difficulty rolling her R's, stating, "Te keddo tambien." She smiled proudly at herself and sat back, drinking her hot chocolate again. "Hey, how do you know I like cinnamon on my chocolate? Did Mom tell you?"

"No, I just guessed. I know your Mom doesn't like whipped cream so I guessed that you didn't either, and then I like cinnamon in mine and your mom and I used to make it like that when we were small, so I figured you liked it the same way." Will shrugged a little bit, but Willow looked at her mother, propping herself on the table.

"My dad is magic, Mom."

Emma laughed, shaking her head a bit. "He's just really smart, Wills. He didn't go to Hogwarts."

Willow laughed. "Well, duh. Only people with those cool accents can go to Hogwarts. It's a rule."

"Did I mention she's a huge book worm?" Emma asked, looking at Will. "She started reading when she was four years old, and hasn't stopped since. She's at a twelfth grade reading level."

"Wow, that's amazing, Willow. What's your favourite book?" Will looked over at her with his eyebrows raised. That was definitely impressive, and all credit went to Emma for sure. How did she manage to be such a great mom as well as get an education and do it all on her own? It baffled Will.

"Well I just read this book called _Wuthering Heights_. It's Mom's favourite, and I like it the most because I want to be like her. What's your favourite book? I can read it!" Her eyes glistened with the thought of having new reading material.

"I really like this book called _A Separate Peace_ and another book called _Death Be Not Proud._" Will nodded. Both of them were sort of serious books, but they were his favourites, and he wasn't going to lie to her.

"I can look at them when I get back from my grandma's next weekend!" Willow smiled brightly at him before looking at Emma. "Mom, how long until they get here?"

Emma glanced at the clock. "About half an hour. Go change quickly and you can spend time with Dad until they get here." She smiled, watching Willow hop up with a quick 'be right back' thrown Will's way.

"Your parents are coming?" Will asked, looking at her. He hadn't seen her parents in ten years. "Should I be here?"

"Oh, yeah! You're fine; they're over the whole thing. I think they got over it the moment Willow was born. They love her more than anything in this world." Emma smiled and stood, starting to clear the table. "Oh, Will. No, you don't have to help." She headed to the sink, shaking her head as he started picking up a few things.

"I don't have to, but I want to." He smiled and set his dishes by the sink, helping her clear off the table. "So she's going with them for a week?"

"Mhm. They're going to Virginia for a week and offered to take her so I could work late if I need to during this final week." Emma shrugged a bit. "She'll be back next Sunday night, though. You're welcome to come visit her when she gets back, or even take her to spend time with her."

"Really?" He asked, looking at her. She nodded hesitantly.

"I know you won't put her in danger, I know you'll watch after her, and I know you care about her. You've always been that kind of guy, so I trust you."

"Why the hesitation, then?"

"I'll explain later." Emma smiled, starting to wash the dishes as Willow entered the kitchen, ready for her trip to Virginia.

"Hey Dad, want to go play catch outside? I have this pink ball and Mom says if I'm careful, I can play out there, but if it bounces out of the gate, then I'm out of luck." She laughed and Emma nodded, pointing at her.

"That's right, kiddo. Front yard is gated for a reason. Keep the cars out and my sweet girl in. Come get me when Grandma Rose gets here."

Emma watched them leave before cleaning everything up in the kitchen. She finished up just as Rose and Rusty drove up, parking on the driveway and hopping out of the car. Emma walked out into the front yard as Willow squealed out, "Grandma!" and ran towards her, hugging her tightly.

Rose smiled and scooped up Willow, hugging her tightly. "Dear Lord, Willow Jane. You get bigger and more beautiful every time I see you!" She set her down so she could say hi to Rusty who kissed her cheek.

"Hey, kiddo. Ready for a whole week in Virginia?"

Willow nodded, pulling Rose and Rusty towards Will and Emma. "Grandma, Grandpa. Look. That's my dad. His name's Will and he's known Mom since he was my age!"

"I know," Rose said, nodding. "We knew him when he was your age, too. How are you, Will?"

"I'm doing great, Mrs. Pillsbury. Looking good, Mister Pillsbury."

They both smiled and looked at Emma, hugging her gently. Rose gave her a look that said they'd need to talk about this at some point and Emma nodded, a small smile on her face.

"Alright, Wills. Ready to go?" Rusty asked, ruffling his granddaughter's hair.

Willow nodded, running to get her suitcase from her room, dragging it out behind her. "Ready to go, Captain Grandpa!" She hugged Emma tightly, kissing her cheek. "Bye, Mommy. I love you!"

"I love you, too, baby girl. Hey, listen." She crouched down at looked at her. "Listen to your grandparents and be a good girl. Don't go too far into the ocean and wear your sunblock. Call me whenever you get a moment and eat your vegetables." Emma glanced at her father. "Dad, I'm serious. No babying her about it. Make sure she eats them."

"But Emma, she doesn't like them, and I only want my Willow Tree happy."

"Don't care. She'll be happy when she isn't breaking bones because she has nutrients."

"Fine, she'll eat them." He looked at Willow and shook his head slightly, causing both Will and Willow to laugh, but Emma just rolled her eyes.

"Drive safely, you guys." Her parents nodded, taking the suitcase to the trunk of the car. Willow followed after them before turning and running to Will.

"Woops. Forgot something." She hugged Will gently, smiling up at him. "See you in a week, Dad! Bye, Mom! I love you guys!" She waved and ran after her grandparents, hopping into the backseat and closing the door, buckling up and waving out of the window as they started driving away. Emma and Will both waved, Emma letting out a small sigh, glancing over at Will.

"Got anything planned today?"

Will looked at her and shook his head.

"Want to hang out?" She asked, looking at him. "I know it's been ten years and it may be awkward, but I'd like to hang out with you. Like we used to."

"That would require hammocks, tea, PB&J sandwiches and laughter."

Emma nodded, smiling. "Good thing I have all of the above. But only if you're interested."

"Of course," Will smiled, looking down at himself. "I'm in my pajamas, though."

"Well you're free to go home and change, but Sunday really is pajama day for me. Unless we have something major to do, Wills and I stay in our jammies all day."

Will laughed and nodded. "Well in that case. Sure. I'll stay." He smiled at her and followed her inside, watching her as she closed the door and moved to get them each a large glass of sweet tea. She led him to the backyard and hey moved to the hammocks, Emma smiling over at him.

"When she was a baby, my grandparents had hammocks in their yard and when I couldn't get her to sleep, I'd lay down with her in them and she'd fall asleep like a charm." Emma sat down on one hammock, handing him a glass of tea. She took a sip of hers and set the glass on the ground by her hammock, laying on it on her stomach. She looked over at Will as he mimicked her on the other hammock.

Will watched Emma, a smile on his face, but his heart a bit sad. He'd missed so much about Willow's life. It upset him a bit and made him jealous, but he couldn't complain. Emma only did what she did because she felt like it was for the best. "Can you tell me about her?" He asked, looking at her.

"Of course, Will. What do you want to know about her?"

"Tell me anything about her that you want to tell me."

"Okay…" Emma nodded, closing her eyes and thinking. "Alright, well she's loved cookies as long as I can remember. Even before she was born. I ate so many cookies it was ridiculous. Her first word was actually 'dada.' It sort of hurt my feelings because, hello, mama, but it was the sweetest thing ever." She opened her eyes looking at him. "I have videos if you want to see them. I recorded every moment of her life that I could."

"Yeah, I'd love to see some."

"I can send you home with a bunch of them. I have copies of each, just in case." She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the sun on her back.

"How did you do it, Emma?"

"A _lot _of pushing for twenty-three hours. No medication. That's how."

Will's eyes widened, looking at her. "No, not that. I mean, that's…wow, Emma. That's tough. I just meant…you went to school, you got a degree – a Masters of all things – you raised Willow, and neither of you are suffering. You're an ideal mother to her and you can tell that she just admires you. How did you do it?"

Emma laughed. "It wasn't an option. I wasn't going to put my life on hold and I wasn't going to take more away from her."

"And you did it all on your own?"

"Yep. I learned the hard way that guys can't be trusted." Emma nodded and sighed, reaching for her tea and taking a sip.

"Which is why you hesitated earlier?"

She just nodded, setting her tea back down.

"Care to explain? I'm still your best friend, you know."

"I know you are." Emma laughed and nodded. "Uhm, basically, when I was twenty-five, I started dating my dentist. He was a pretty sweet guy, but he didn't understand, you know? He didn't understand that I was a mother and I couldn't just drop everything to be with him. I had a daughter and he needed to work her into his life if he wanted to work me into his life. Easier said than done, apparently. He took her on an outing after we'd been together for six months and he lost her for three hours, then came back and said he can't handle me and my life. I said I understood and I let him go."

"He lost her?"

Emma nodded. "Scariest three hours of my life. He called me and said 'Ems, don't freak, but I lost Wills.' So of course I freaked out and I just kept thinking, my God she's so tiny and what if she gets taken or hurt? She ended up going back to the last place they'd been together and sat there, waiting for him, but it was stupid of me to let him take her on an outing."

Will looked at her, shaking his head slightly. How could you lose a child? That just didn't make sense to him. "And after him?"

"Nobody. I realized it was so selfish." She shrugged. "It wasn't fair to any guy and it wasn't fair to Willow."

"Why not?"

"Because I hadn't even introduced her to her birth father. Who was I to bring a new man into her life, and allow him to pose as her father when she never got the chance to know her real one? It was selfish of me to want to have a relationship when I was keeping her from an important one. Further than that, it wasn't fair for me to date a man when I was in love with someone else, even if he didn't love me back."

Will thought over her words a few times, nodded. "Me." He said, looking at her. "I've held you back, Emma, haven't I?"

"No, _I _held me back by allowing myself to hold out for you. But I had to. It kept me in check."

They fell silent, lying on the hammocks, each of them thinking of different things, but both enjoying the feel of the sun on their bodies. After a few minutes, Emma cleared her throat, taking a deep breath. Her throat was a little bit tight, and she'd been thinking back over their last night together.

"Why didn't you ever tell me how to love you?" She asked quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"What…?"

"I told you that I could love you as a best friend, as a girlfriend, as whatever you wanted me to. All you had to do was tell me." Emma opened her eyes, looking at Will, tears filling her eye rims. "Why didn't you ever tell me how to love you?"

Will sat up and shook his head, his feet planted firmly on the ground. He sighed and looked at her. "I don't know, Emma. I wanted your love in so many ways that I didn't know which to choose. I still love you in too many ways."

"You've been divorced for a year. Why in the past year have you not told me how to love you?"

Another shrug. "I didn't know how you wanted to love me. I still don't."

Emma looked at him, sitting up. "I carried your child for nine months and raised her to be a great kid. Is that enough of an answer of how I want to love you? How I want you to love me?" She sighed. "I've been making my feelings very clear since I got here, Willow or no, and you are still just as blind as you were at eighteen."

"I'm not blind."

"Then why didn't you ever tell me? How come you never told me how to love you? Why can't you tell me how to love you?"

"For the same reason you never told me about Willow. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair for me – a married man – to tell my best friend that I wanted her to love me as a girlfriend, and then a wife, and then the mother of my children, which, SPOILER ALERT! You're already that one! It wasn't the right time, Emma. I thought now was the right time, but I didn't want to just tell you I love you and want to be with you after you tell me that we have a kid together because I don't want you thinking that I only love you because I want her. But I don't I want you both. I have met her twice now and you know, I feel like she's my world. She's this perfect little piece of me that you managed to keep perfect in spite of keeping her away all of this time. But I was not about to dump that on you and make you think I only wanted you so that I could be with her." Will took a breath, looking around, having stood when he screamed 'Spoiler Alert.' Emma remained silent, looking at him. She didn't know what to say anymore, so she remained silent, biting on her lower lip. Will looked back at her after a moment, letting out a breath. "I want you to love me like nobody else can, Emma. I want to be with you."

She smiled brightly, looking at him. He took a breath and shook his head. "But now…now just isn't the right time. I'm sorry."

Emma's face fell and she looked at him, confused. "Wh…what?"

"Willow needs to get used to me before she can get used to us."

She nodded, swallowing. He was right about this. Willow had to come before either of them or their relationship. "You're right." She looked at him. "Just tell me when. Really, this time. Tell me when."

Will nodded, "I will." He said, looking at her for a moment. "I should probably go." He smiled and walked over, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?" He asked, smiling at her.

"Of course. I'll be the one with the coffees."

Will laughed and nodded. "See you then. Thanks again, for breakfast."

"Anytime."

Emma waved, watching him walk out of the back gate and head to the front yard. She heard his car start and drive away and she took a breath, turning to look up at the leaves hovering over her hammock. Tears started to flow silently and she wondered why she hadn't just told Will about their baby the day she found out, or the day she was born.


	5. It's A Monday

**A/N:** One small note for Chapter 5: There's a point where Emma will say "Make a wish, mama!" to Willow. I just wanted to clear up that in my family, 'mama' and 'mamas' are used as terms of endearment for daughters and nieces. I am not really sure why, but yeah. So that carried over into this. Just to eliminate confusion. -Tayma

* * *

Chapter 5: It's A Monday

The day after Will and Emma said goodbye to Willow for a week, Will arrived to work half an hour early, stopping by Emma's office. He'd received a text after waking up that Emma had something for him waiting in his office. Thinking it was the coffee she'd mentioned to him, Will walked to her office, knocking on the glass window so as not to smudge the glass.

"You wanted to see me, Miss P?" He asked, smirking a bit.

Emma rolled her eyes and smiled. "Sure did, Mister Schue." She walked over, a hand extended towards him holding a cup of coffee. "Here is your coffee, and here are the videos." She reached into her bag and produced a pile of VHS tapes.

"Videos?" Will took the coffee, eyebrows furrowed. "Thanks for the coffee." He took a sip.

"Of Willow."

"Oh, right! Thanks so much. I was in such a hurry yesterday; I suppose I forgot."

"I figured as much. So those are the three videos I thought you'd like to see the most, but there are tons of others at my place. Once you watch these, just let me know and I'll bring you a few more." Emma smiled and sat against the edge of her desk, picking up her own latte and taking a long sip of it. "Be sure to watch the one marked 'Big One' on it. It's probably the cutest."

Will nodded, looking down at the tapes in his hand. They felt extra heavy. Maybe it was because he was holding a piece of his child's life in his hands – a piece that he missed out on. "Thanks so much, Em. Really. I'll watch them and bring them back to you as soon as I can."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about it. They're copies."

"Copies?"

"As in I have the originals, those are for you. I didn't want to overwhelm you with fifty VHS tapes, though, so I figure bringing them in small groups like this will give you time to watch them before being bombarded with more." She smiled genuinely, taking another sip. "Contrary to what you may think, Will, I do want you to know everything there is about her."

"I don't think anything, Emma. I think you pulled a typical Emma and you put everyone else first; it's what you always do and it's what makes you so great. If I'm to think anything about you and Willow it's that you two are amazingly well off and I commend you for keeping it all together."

Emma's smile widened. "Well thank you." She watched him for a moment, their eyes meeting in the silence that overcame them. Eventually, the warning bell rang, causing each of them to jump.

"Right, so. Thanks. I'll, uhm, I'll watch these. If, uhm…if you talk to Willow?"

"Tell her Dad loves her? Got it." Emma nodded, watching him as he turned and walked out of her office, heading towards his classroom. She took another sip of her latte, setting it down and moving to sit behind her desk. She placed her head in her hands, taking a deep breath when there was a knock on the door.

"Miss P? I need to talk to you."

Emma painted a smile on her face and looked up to see Noah Puckerman standing in her doorway. "Of course, Puck. Come on in and have a seat."

-x-x-x-

The school day passed painfully slow after the first period bell rang. All Will wanted was to go home and pop his videos into his VHS player. He thanked God that he had been nostalgic at a garage sale last month and bought one that was for sale. By the time third period rolled around, Will was glancing at the clock every ten minutes and decided that it was a makeup day for the kids to catch up on anything they needed, so long as they kept the noise level down.

Lunch with Emma was torture. Each of them wanted to talk, but neither of them knew what to say. Shannon was extremely uncomfortable, resorting to leaving early to 'work out a few plays,' but Will and Emma knew that she was just awkward sitting with them in the suffocating silence of their little table. Sue walked into the faculty lounge, gave them a two second glance before muttering 'already dead inside,' then turning and leaving straight away. This at least gave the two of them a momentary laugh, but then silence fell again and each of them let out a relieved sigh when the bell finally rang. They were sitting together more out of an obligatory feeling than wanting to be friends like they usually did.

When the final bell _finally _rang, Will remained back a few minutes, trying to stay cool when a few kids asked him for some last minute help. Honestly he wanted to tell them he had his own kid to learn about and could they bother their parents, but he was sweet as ever, making sure they understood their assignment due the following week. Once they were gone, he headed out of the building, passing Emma's office on the way, but she was already gone. Sighing, he went out to his car and got in, ramming the key into the ignition and starting up the old blue clunker.

The drive home passed swiftly and before he knew it, he was sitting at home, on his couch, the VHS marked 'Big One' in the player, television on and remote in hand. He took a deep, shuttering breath, letting it out slowly before pointing the remote at the player determinedly and pressing PLAY. There was a bit of crackling and the screen went bright blue before switching to a blurry image that slowly focused before his eyes.

_Emma Pillsbury at the age of twenty years old stood with a baby on her hip, both of them facing each other with smiles on their faces. Both the baby and the young woman had bright red hair, Emma's long and pulled into a half-ponytail with a headband in. Baby Willow had a matching black velvet headband in her own whispy hair and she had a wide smile on her face. Emma pointed to the camera, smiling at the baby before looking at the camera._

"_Look at the camera, Willow." She glanced back at the baby, wrinkling her nose playfully. "Willow, look at Auntie Ginn." Emma kept pointing until the baby finally looked at the camera and squealed._

"_Say hello, my name is Willow Jane Schuester and today I am one year old!" Emma held up her index finger, smiling when Willow sort of imitated the gesture. "That's right, baby girl. One year old! You're so big! Can you tell Auntie what word you learned last month?" She bounced her a little bit, trying to get her to speak, glancing at her older sister, Ginnifer. "Oh, hold on. I know." _

_Emma walked over to the mantle and pointed at a picture she had of her and Will from their high school graduation and pointed at him. "Wills, who's that, baby girl?"_

"_Dada!" Willow squealed, clapping her hands._

_Emma laughed. "That's right, that's Daddy. Who's that?" She asked, pointing at herself in the image. Again, Willow squealed 'Dada' causing Emma to laugh. "We're working on that one." She said, glancing at Ginnifer. "Here, trade you baby for camera."_

_The camera went to Emma and she handed Willow to Ginnifer, who looked much like Emma, but somehow instead of the bright red hair of the rest of her family, Ginn had dark brown hair that made her stick out like a sore thumb. The girl bounced her niece happily, smiling at her. _

"_Well while Mommy's been teaching you who your Daddy is, Auntie's taught you more important things, hasn't she?" The lens zoomed into Willow's face and Ginnifer said, "Broccoli." Willow's face got very serious at the word, looking at her Aunt like she was displeased. After a moment, Ginnifer said, "Cookie." Willow smiled widely and clapped her hands again._

"_Ginn, I'm going to smack you," Will heard Emma saying as the camera zoomed back out. "You can't teach her that sort of thing."_

_Ginnifer looked at the camera. "Yeah. That's why I'm not her mom."_

_The camera stayed on aunt and niece for a moment before the phone rang and Ginnifer went to check caller id. The camera followed her and she read the screen, turning to Emma. "Uhm, it's Will…"_

"_Shit. I told him to call me __**tonight**__." Will heard Emma say before the camera cut off._

Will's eyes were glued to the screen, his heart beating rapidly. Tears were in his eyes from his daughter's adorable ways. He yearned to have known her then, and there was an internal pull that he couldn't explain. All he knew was he longed for that time with her so badly, it made him feel sick. He was about to fast forward when the screen blipped again and an image of a baby in a high chair with a cupcake before her came into focus. He took a breath again before leaning back against the couch and watching.

"…_Happy Birthday, dear Willooooooooooooooow! Happy Birthday to you!" Emma smiled and leaned towards her daughter, kissing her cheek gently. "Make a wish, mama."_

_Willow started to eat the pink frosting on her cupcake, getting it all over her face, and the video panned out to show who else was there. It wasn't a big party, but it was all of the people who mattered to Emma and Willow at the time. Her grandparents were there, as well as her sister and two girls that Will had never seen before, but judging by their hair colour and their big eyes, they were Emma's cousins. They were all chatting away happily, waving at the camera before returning to their conversations. When the camera moved back to Willow, Emma was sitting in a chair next to her, running a hand over her head gently. She had no idea the camera was on her as she started to talk to her daughter._

"_So remember the other day, and I promised that for your first birthday, I'd tell your daddy about you?" Emma waited as if Willow would respond, but she just looked at her mother, sucking frosting off of her own tiny fingers. "Well it looks like there's a tiny set back in that. Today is his and Auntie Terri's year and a half anniversary." Whoever was working the camera zoomed in to Emma's face as she rested her chin on the edge of the highchair, oblivious to everyone else as she had her own little talk with Willow. "Something you'll come to learn about Mommy is that she always makes sure everyone else is happy before she does anything. So right now, it's not the right time, but it will be soon, okay? In the meantime, I love you, sweetheart, and I hope that's enough for you." The camera zoomed out and Willow was staring at her mother, her hand smashed into her cupcake. Emma smiled a bit and sniffled, wiping a tear off of her own cheek._

"_Em, you're more than enough for her, okay?" Ginnifer was recording again and Emma turned her head, startled out of her small world._

"_Ginn, turn off the camera."_

"_Emma, come on. You're enough. You're her mom, and you're all that she's got."_

_Emma's head bobbed in a nod and she took a breath. "Yep, I'm all she's got because I let her dad to go get married. So. Turn off the damn camera, Ginnifer. You can have it back when we do presents."_

Will paused the video for a moment, thinking back on his and Terri's year and a half anniversary. They were supposed to go out to dinner and Will rented a hotel room for them to have a romantic evening together. Instead, Terri came home around noon with bags from Pottery Barn _again_ and she and Will had an argument. Will was in college, he had loans and scholarships, and he was trying to balance a job while Terri played housewife and did nothing all day. She complained that she couldn't get nice things without being yelled at, and then Will suggested she get a job, and she complained that he asked too much of her. He had more than he could take and he'd called Emma, trying to get some advice from her; she was always good at helping him and Terri out, no matter how much Terri took Will away from time with Emma. He recalled the conversation he had with Emma as well, and he immediately realized that it had been his fault that time that Emma didn't tell him about Willow.

"_**Hello?" Emma's voice was on the other end of the phone, a little out of breath.**_

"_**Hey. Bad time?"**_

"_**Nope, perfect. Just one…Ginnifer. Can you take her, please? Thanks…Yeah, Will. You're fine. Listen, I need to talk to you."**_

"_**I know, and I know you said to call tonight, but something came up and I need to talk to you now."**_

"_**Oh?"**_

"_**Yeah, it's about me and Terri. We're fighting and I could really use some of your killer advice."**_

_**Silence. **_

"_**Emma? You there?"**_

_**She nodded, though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, I'm here. What's, uhm, what seems to be the problem?"**_

"_**Finances. Again. She doesn't understand we can't go on shopping sprees, but she doesn't want to work."**_

"_**Well, listen, you have to tell her it's one or the other, Will. Either she wants to go on shopping sprees and therefore she works, or she doesn't work and therefore can't want the shopping sprees that badly. There's always a compromise. If she's dead set on spending frivolous money, then tell her to give up her weekly manicures that she's obsessed with, or maybe stop fake dying her hair blonde and just leave it her natural sandy brown." She couldn't hide the tone of annoyance in her voice. Terri coming between things again. Terri causing him problems again. It was always about Terri whenever he called; never a 'Hey, Em! How's it going?' or 'How's school going for you?' She doubted he even knew she dropped out of Columbia.**_

"_**Gah. I agree. You're so smart, Emma. This is why I love you."**_

"_**Thanks, Will. Hey, listen. So I need to tell you som—"**_

"_**But what if she argues?" Will asked, running a hand through his hair.**_

_**Emma sighed, sitting down on her living room couch. "Then she argues, Will. I can't be your answer to everything. She's your wife, is she not? You know her well enough to have proposed to her the day I was gone to Columbia, and then eloped with her three months later. I'd assume you have answers for yourself."**_

_**Will flinched slightly at her tone. This wasn't like Emma at all. She was usually so kind and sweet about it; very accommodating and always assisting him no matter how long it took. What had changed? "Em, are you okay?"**_

"_**No, Will. I'm not. I'm frustrated. How many times have you called me in the last year and how many times has it ever been about just you or asking how things are going over here? Zero. You've called me to complain about Terri, to tell me you're engaged to Terri, to tell me you're on your damn honeymoon with Terri after a surprise wedding, to ask me why the hell you married Terri, but not once have you called me to see how I'm holding up or to just tell me about you. I'm sorry if I'm being selfish, but I've got stuff going on, too, Will. This is a two-way street, but lately, I'm only driving in your direction."**_

"_**Then let me drive in your direction, Emma. Just say so. How are things with you?" His tone sounded slightly annoyed, but genuine for the most part.**_

"_**I'm…holding up. I, uhm, I wanted you to call because I needed to, uhm…to tell you th-that—"**_

_**Will groaned. "Hold on, Emma. I'm sorry. WHAT!" She heard him calling out and then sighing, getting up and walking. She heard Terri in the background before hearing Will let out a breath. "It's okay, baby. I know you're just trying to make it homey…yeah…okay, hold on." Emma heard a bit of shuffling and then, "Hey, Emma? I'm going to have to get back to you. It was nice talking! Thanks again, Em. You're the best."**_

_**Then he'd hung up.**_

Looking back, he felt like a complete and total asshole. Why couldn't he have been as great a friend to her as she was to him? Marrying Terri seemed to mess with him a lot; _dating_ Terri messed with him a lot. His priorities changed, and it wasn't until now that he realized he dropped Emma as a priority. He stopped caring about her like he used to; he became selfish. He just used her as a tool to keeping his marriage together. Will sighed, lying back against the couch. Did he even want to keep watching? Would there be more things like this? Even if there were, Emma couldn't have known that he would react this way to seeing them. She couldn't have known that he'd take it so personally and start re-evaluating everything. Emma was being sincere and she'd been wanting him to get to know about his daughter. If this was a consequence, then let the punishments pour down.

Picking up the remote, he pressed play again, turning on his side and pressing his head into a pillow. The scenery changed and Emma was sitting in a nursery room, rocking a sleeping Willow in her arms. The camera was in a door crack, and Emma was rocking back and forth slowly, singing to her quietly. After a moment, the camera pulled away and it turned to look at Ginnifer Pillsbury who looked directly in the camera.

"_Em's going to kill me if she knows we recorded this." She said, smiling and laughing a bit. "But she's so damn cute." Ginnifer laughed again before shaking her head. "Okay, cut if off, Grams. Happy Birthday, Wills." Ginnifer waved a bit before the video went black._

The VCR clicked and then stopped before starting to rewind. Will heaved himself off of the couch, moving to grab another VHS tape. He pulled it out of the container and read the label. "First Day of Kinder." He stared at it for a moment before walking over to the VCR, pulling out the tape when it was ejected and shoving the next tape in. He replaced "Big One" in its respective case before laying back down on the couch, grabbing the remote and pressing play again.

_The camera shook a bit as the person filming walked alongside Willow who was grasping Emma's hand in her tiny one. The little girl's long curly hair was held back with a headband and she was wearing a black and white polka dotted dress with white tights and black shoes._

"_You excited for your first day of school, Wills?" the voice that spoke told that Ginnifer was filming again._

_Willow nodded, smiling up at the camera. The little girl's silence was more telling than her nod, as was the firm grip on her mother's hand. When they reached the front of the school, Emma crouched down in front of Willow, taking both of her hands and smiling up at her._

"_We're excited, right?"_

_Willow nodded._

"_And you know Mommy's going to be here right after school to get you, right?"_

_Another nod, but her lower lip started trembling and her eyes welled up as she stared at her mother. Emma reached a hand up and brushed her tears away with her thumb when they started to fall. _

"_Hey, sweetness. No tears, okay? I'll pick you up, and then we'll go to a special dinner with Auntie Ginn."_

_Willow nodded again and sniffled, trying to stop her tears. She hugged Emma tight, and then took Emma's hand as she was led into the building with a wave back at the camera. Ginnifer sighed a bit and yelled "BYE, BABY GIRL!" before turning off the camera._

_The screen went dark for a moment before opening up to a close up of Willow's face, a big grin on it. She giggled a little bit and looked right at the camera. "Auntie, make sure you can see Mommy, too!"_

_The camera panned out to show both Emma and Willow. They were each holding a remote control in their hands, lifted to their mouths like microphones. Emma was seated in one couch chair, the other pulled close to her as Willow sat in it, as if they were on a talk show. _

"_Please state your name and age for the record." Emma said into the remote "microphone," her voice very professional, causing Willow to giggle._

"_I'm Willow Jane Schuester and I'm five," Willow said into her own "microphone."_

"_Ah, interesting. Five. Good year. Now, Willow. Today was a momentous day in your young life. Would you care to tell our viewers at home why that is?"_

_Willow stared at Emma for a moment and whispered, "Mommy, what's amentous mean?"_

_Emma giggled, "Momentous, baby girl. It's a big day."_

"_Oh!" Willow squealed, giggling again and then talking into the remote. "I started kindergarten today."_

"_Well, well. If that's not just amazing. And how was this first day of kindergarten?"_

"_It was good after I stopped crying."_

"_You cried? Why's that?"_

"_Well, you dropped me off, and it made me sad, because I don't like being away from you, but you have school too, so it was okay and I made a friend named Margot and she's pretty and we played with crayons."_

"_Crayons! My word, those are your favourite!"_

_Emma smiled as Willow giggled again. "I know! It was great!"_

"_So you coloured. What else did you do?"_

"_We had story time, and we did these colouring pages where you colour the word whatever it is. Like, if it says blue, colour it blue. If it says green, colour it green. We also got spelling words. But I already know how to read so I will be great!"_

"_Sounds beautiful! And how did you celebrate this first day of school, Miss Schuester?"_

"_I went to dinner with Mommy and Auntie Ginnifer! Then we got cupcakes and came home."_

"_Ah. Impressive, impressive. Now tell me, how are you feeling about school tomorrow?"_

"_Excited, I think. I don't know."_

"_Well, thank you, Miss Schuester, for your time." Emma looked at the camera. "You heard her folks. We'll see how excited she is on the walk over tomorrow." She winked and Willow giggled._

"_Mommy, why are you so silly?"_

"_Because I'm magic, remember?"_

"_No you're not!"_

_Emma looked at her with shock before standing up. "Willow Jane, you better take that back." She raised her fingers in front of her and started wiggling them like she was going to tickle her, taking slow steps forward, causing Willow to squeal, hop up out of the chair and run laughing out of the room, Emma following close behind. "I'm going to get you, Wills! You better say I'm magic!" There was a bunch of running and giggling and squealing before Emma returned a few minutes later, holding Willow in her arms. "Say it!" Emma giggled and so did Willow, shaking her head. "Say it!" Another head shake and Emma tickled Willow's side. "YOU'RE MAGIC!" Willow screamed, giggling. Emma smiled, kissing Willow's cheek and hugging her before setting her down. "NOT!" Willow yelled before running out of the room again. Ginnifer started laughing and the camera started shaking, Emma glancing over at her with a smile. "Okay, Ginn. You can stop it now." _

The screen went blank and the VCR clicked again, stopping and then rewinding. It wasn't until there was nothing on the screen that Will noticed how hard he was smiling. He was grinning from ear to ear, watching Emma with their daughter. Emma fit so well into the role of being a good mother. It appeared to come so naturally for her, and Willow adored her. She was such a happy kid when she was small, if these videos were any indication, and the way that she acted now, she was still a happy kid. Though he was so sad he didn't know her all of this time, Will's heart swelled with the knowledge that Emma was at least a great mother to her, and Emma kept her happy. There was no other woman in the world Will would have wanted to mother his child and keep her a secret for ten years. Only Emma could ever pull that off and make it completely acceptable.

When the VCR was done rewinding, Will got up and moved to put the third one in. When he pulled out the third tape, he glanced at the front of it. There was a sticky note with Emma's writing on it. _This was sent to you five years ago. It was intercepted by Terri, and it is the reason you didn't know sooner. She called me and told me to keep my mouth shut. I wasn't going to cross her. –Em._ Furrowing his eyebrows, Will pulled the sticky note off of the tape and looked at the label. "For Daddy." His mouth went dry and he swallowed hard before putting the video in. He didn't even make it back to the couch, choosing instead to sit on the coffee table before pressing play.

_Willow stared up at the camera with a wide smile on her face, waving excitedly. Her curly ginger hair was pulled into a side braid and she had little green earrings in her tiny ears. She was sitting on a couch and her little body was dressed in a green floral dress._

"_Okay, Wills. Just like we practiced, okay?" That was Emma. She was recording this time._

_Willow nodded before stopping her waving and looking directly at Will through the television screen. "Hi. My name is Willow and I'm five. My mommy is Emma Pillsbury and she's my mom." Willow paused and sighed. "Mommy, I messed up. Can we start over?"_

"_It's okay, Willow. We can't keep restarting. Just say whatever you want to."_

"_Oh, okay." Willow nodded and tapped her chin for a minute. "Hi. My name is Willow and I'm five. My mommy is named Emma and my daddy is named Will, but I don't know who he is. Mommy says I'm his special surprise because he doesn't know 'bout me yet." She paused, letting out a huff. "I have an Aunt Terri and he's married to her, but I don't know her, either. Today is Christmas." Willow smiled widely at Emma. "I don't know what else to say, Mommy. Can I say that I love him?" She paused, and Emma must have nodded because Willow smiled wider. "And I love my dad a lot. I have a picture of him and everything! Santa, I know this is late. But please give me my daddy for Christmas. Thank you!"_

"_Very good, baby girl. Go find Grandma really fast, okay? I'll be right down."_

_Willow nodded and waved. "Bye!"_

_The camera swirled around for a moment before being set on something and Emma moved to sit where Willow just was. She took a deep breath and let it out in one gust, rubbing her shaking hands on her own green dress._

"_So…hi. It's been, uhm…it's been a few years since I saw you last. As you heard Willow just say, her dad is…well, you. I've, uhm…I've tried to tell you before, but you just wouldn't listen and to be honest, I didn't try very hard when you'd change the subject. I'm just scared, I guess. I don't want to derail your entire life, and I know Terri didn't marry you with the intention of becoming a step mother to a child. But you need to know about her, and it's all she asked for…" Emma paused, starting to cry. She held a hand to her mouth for a moment before sniffling and looking back at the camera with watery eyes. "For Christmas, all she asked for…was her dad. So, I'm trying. I can't get ahold of you, and I don't know why you're not answering, but this is the next best thing. I'm so sorry to you and Willow for keeping her from you…it was just for the best, trust me. I did it for you." Emma paused, wiping underneath her eyes and sniffling. She swallowed and reached forward, picking up a small stack of pictures. "I've documented everything I could about her for you. So…if you want to comply with her Christmas wish, if you want to know her, call me. Tell me. I'll send you pictures, I'll come to Ohio to introduce you, I'll make sure you know her. If you don't, then just send the video back. I hope you want to know her, though. She's perfect. Her name's Willow Jane Schuester. I hope you approve of the name. Like I said all those years ago, Will. I love you." She smiled at the camera and got up, leaning over the camera before it shut off and the screen went black._

Will sat on the coffee table, tears on his cheeks as he watched the video. He let out a tiny sob as the screen went blank, dropping his head into his hands. He could have known her. He could have met her years ago, but Terri told Emma to stay quiet.

Terri.

"DAMMIT!" Will stood up from the coffee table, throwing the remote down. He placed his hands on his head and turned, going to the phone and picking it up, dialing Terri's number. It rang a few times before Will heard Terri answer, smile apparent in her voice.

"Will! Hey, how's it going?"

"Is it in your DNA to be a bitch?" Will asked, anger causing his voice to shake.

"Uhm…nice to hear from you, too."

"I'm serious, Terri. What the fuck is wrong with you. Willow Jane Schuester. Ring a bell?"

Terri was silent on the other end of the line. When she said nothing, Will gripped the phone tighter.

"Terri. Answer me. Who is Willow. Jane. Schuester."

She took a breath, "She's your daughter, but Will let me explain, you don't understa—"

"Oh! Oh! There's something to explain? THERE IS NOTHING TO EXPLAIN, TERRI! NOTHING! GOD AND YOU WONDER WHY WE'RE DIVORCED NOW!" Will could hear whimpering on the other end of the line, and then some sniffling and he rolled his eyes. "Don't pull that crying shit with me, Terri. Don't do it. You have no reason to cry. You kept it from me. My child, you kept her from me."

"N-no!" Terri cried out, causing Will to roll his eyes. "Will, you don't – n-no! Emma kept her from you! It's Emma!"

Will laughed bitterly. "It was always Emma with you. She was always your cop out for everything wrong in our relationship. But if I didn't see it before, I definitely see it now. It was _you_ that was every fucking wrong thing in this godforsaken relationship. Not Emma. YOU!"

"Why are you calling, Will?" Terri whimpered, sniffling again.

"To tell you that I met Willow and she's perfect. Oh, and by the way? That little secret cost you. That alimony check I send you every month out of the goodness of my heart? Don't expect that this month. Or any month from here on out." He was furious, and he helped support her out of the goodness of his heart; he wasn't court ordered to provide for her in any way after their split; she'd refused it at the time, but Will still sent her checks to make sure she was okay.

"W-what? Will! I'm not built to work every day!"

Will shrugged. "Not my wife, not my problem. Goodbye, Terri."

With that, he hung up the phone. He stared at the phone for a moment, running his hand over his face before dialing another number. He held the phone to his ear, looking at the time. It was almost eight-thirty. Hopefully this wasn't a bad time.

"Hello?" The voice was chipper.

"Emma, hey. You busy?"

"Nope, not in the slightest. Perks of having a daughter on vacation." She laughed a bit and sighed. "How can I help you?"

"I watched the videos."

She let out a breath. "Oh. You did."

"I did. Can…can I come over and talk to you?"

There was a moment of silence and then, "Yeah, of course. Just come over whenever. Have you eaten?"

Will's head shook, though she couldn't see him. "No, I was about to eat before heading over."

"Don't bother. I was going to make some fried rice. I'll make enough for you, too."

He swallowed hard. "A-are you sure?"

"Yeah, Will. I'd have leftovers anyways. I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, see you soon."

He hung up the phone, walking to the table by the front door and pocketing his phone and wallet. He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his car keys before heading out of the door and getting into his car to drive to Emma's.


	6. Hypothetically Speaking

**A/N: **Hopefully, you hate Terri, because if not, you'll probably hate me after this chapter. I understand that she may be a bit...well...crazy, but she had to be in order to keep Emma silent for five years. That being said, enjoy! R&R loved forever! -Tayma

* * *

Chapter 6: Hypothetically Speaking

"_M-mom?" Emma was sitting on her bed in tears, phone in hand as she stared at herself in the mirror. Columbia was great so far, but so stressful. She was having a hard time keeping up with everything and she ended up calling her mother every night before she went to bed. They were always the same. How are you? How's school? How's dad? I'm okay. Glad you guys are okay, too. I love you both and miss you. Goodnight. This phone call would be different._

"_Yes, who's this?" Rose asked, into the phone. Emma laughed a little bit; she and Ginnifer sounded nothing alike and yet her mom always needed clarification._

"_It's Emma."_

"_Oh, hi, honey! How's everything going?"_

_Emma pressed her lips together, trying to stop her tears from coming heavier. She made a tiny squeal in her throat before letting out a tiny sob, sniffling and shaking her head._

"_Emma, is everything okay?"_

"_N-no…I've me-essed up, Mom. B-big time." She got up and reached for tissues, dabbing her eyes, but it was no use. She was just so scared, and this couldn't be undone._

"_Honey, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"_

_It was a few minutes before Emma could talk again. The thought of telling her mother something so serious terrified her and it caused her to go into hysterical crying. The whole time, Rose was patient on the other end of the line, promising her that it couldn't be as bad as she was making it out to be and that no matter what, Rose would attempt to help her fix whatever she'd messed up. Emma knew this couldn't be fixed. When she'd finally composed herself enough to talk without crying, Emma took a deep breath._

"_W-well, remember how I, uhm, I went to California with Will? And when I got back, I told you how it was like Will and I were together and he was so sweet and it made me even more jealous of Terri? And you said that it was right of me to not pressure him to leave Terri?"_

_Rose nodded, listening to her daughter. "Yes, I remember. I still think that was a good decision, Emma. You don't want your best friend hating you over a broken relationship."_

"_Oh, just wait for it, Mom." Emma swallowed and took a deep breath, pushing on. "So I didn't tell you, though, that he and I were…actually…together…and n-now, I went to the doctor, thinking 'I have the flu,' and…and.." A sob broke through and the floodgates reopened as she tumbled over the rest of her sentence. "I f-find out tha-at I'm alm-most two months pregnant." She blurted it out as quickly as she could, her head dropping into her hand as the tears continued to flow. She felt so stupid and careless. How could they have been so carefree?_

_Her mother was silent on the other end of the phone for what felt like forever before Emma blurted out. "Say something!"_

"_I'm sorry, I'm just in shock, Emma. Ginnifer, I expect this from, but not you…" Rose fell silent again before speaking very surely. "You need to come home, and you need to tell William about this. He should help you through this."_

_Emma's head began to shake back and forth rapidly. "No – no, I can't tell him! He's with Terri and they're engaged, and I'm not – no. Not now. Maybe after I get settled or past that three-month mark, but not now. I can't. It's not what's best for him right now – or for me. I'm already worried, Mom, I'm already freaking out, I vomited __**more**__ at the thought of something growing inside of me, and I don't even know if I'm going to raise it because I can't be a parent. So no, not now." Emma had been debating it in her head since she left the doctor's office and it was the only proper thing to do in this situation. Before she called her mother, it was the only thing she was sure about._

Emma was jolted from the memory by a knock on the door. She turned off the stove, moving the pan o fried rice to a potholder on the counter. She stirred it once before turning and walking to the front door. She looked at herself in the mirror on the wall, straightening up her hair quickly before opening the front door.

She smiled as she pulled the door open, her eyes falling onto Will. His eyes were slightly red, as though he had been crying. He was wearing his outfit from school and his hair was a bit mussed, looking like he had run his hands through it one too many times. A smile graced his lips at the sight of Emma and he held up a box of cupcakes that he picked up on the way over.

"Hey, Em."

"Will, hi. Come on in." She stepped to the side, letting him into the house, closing the door behind him.

"Brought dessert." He smiled, handing her the box and toeing off his shoes before following her through to the kitchen.

"Aw, you really didn't have to. Thanks, though." She took the box with a smile and set it on the counter before pulling two bowls down from the cabinet. She piled them both with homemade fried rice, handing one to Will with a fork before picking up her own. Emma led him through to the living room, and they sat side-by-side on her couch, holding their bowls in their hands. The television was on from earlier and _Top Gun _was playing on cable. Both of them trained their eyes onto the television, eating their dinners in silence. _Top Gun_ was one of Emma's favourite movies, and because of that, Will watched it all the time after she moved away when he was missing her. He had this movie memorized.

By the time the movie was over an hour and a half later, Will and Emma had finished eating, and they were completely silent. They had been sharing small glances and smiles throughout the movie, but neither of them had the nerve to strike up the conversation. Will worried it would get too serious, while Emma was clueless and worried about what was to come. They each enjoyed each other's company, and they didn't want to ruin their peaceful moment. Finally, Emma reached forward, setting her bowl on the coffee table before grabbing the remote and shutting the television off.

"So you wanted to talk?" She asked, looking over at Will. She shifted to tuck one leg beneath her bottom as her eyes trained onto his.

"Y-yes." Will nodded, looking at his hands. "I watched the videos of Willow."

"You said so when you called."

"Right." He paused, nodding before finally meeting her gaze. "She was precious. I can't even begin to express the feeling in my stomach when I heard her squeal 'dada' looking at a picture of me. She was an adorable baby."

Emma nodded. "She was. It was inevitable, though, with you as her father. All she had to do was get your smile and she'd be adorable; and she did, so."

"That's not why I came here, though. To talk about Willow."

Emma nodded again, watching him. She wondered what he could be here for, if not to talk about their daughter. Sure, they were still best friends by title, but certainly not by action. Sometimes it felt as though they remained each other's "best friend" as a security blanket. It felt better to know that you had someone there for you to hypothetically confide in for everything. When she remained quiet, Will took a deep breath to continue.

"When I was watching Willow's first birthday, there was this part…you were sitting next to her, explaining how you promised her to tell me she was my daughter, but that you couldn't. You'd mentioned it was my year and a half anniversary with Terri."

She watched him, remembering that moment well. It was the first time she'd ever actually felt like a terrible mother. That night she'd gone to sleep crying because she knew she'd let her daughter down. She'd been granted something so beautiful and perfect, and she'd let her down completely. "That's the first time I let her down, the first time I broke a promise to her. She doesn't even remember it, I know, but I'll always remember that day and feeling like a failure as a mother for it."

Will's brow furrowed as he listened to her, shaking his head. "No, Emma. No. I remember that conversation full well and I know it wasn't your fault. That time it was mine. I just hung up on you."

"I didn't even try calling back!" Emma scoffed, looking at him. It was bothering her that he was blaming himself when she was the one to be blamed for him not knowing his own daughter. "I didn't object when you said you had to go, and I did nothing to try and get you to listen."

They fell silent. Emma had a point. She could have tried harder and each of them was fully aware of that fact. Nothing Will could have said would have made placing all blame on him possible. No matter what happened, Emma would always have primary blame in this situation, whether they wanted that or not.

"Tell me about Terri." Will finally said after a few minutes.

Emma raised her eyebrows at him and nodded. "Okay…Terri Elizabeth Del Monaco was born in Lima, Ohio and thought she was simply the bee's knees. She dated my best friend and she used to have brown hair, but now she dyes it blonde all the ti—"

Will laughed a little bit and looked at her. "Emma."

"William." She smirked.

"The video. Terri. Tell me about it."

Her head shook. "Nope. It's over and done with. All you needed to know is that she played a part in all of this mess."

"No, I want to know, Emma. I just called her and yelled at her about it, so I want to know what I just yelled at her for." He looked at her very seriously, taking a deep breath; he had to know.

"You called and yelled at her?"

He nodded. She thought back to the day Terri called her before nodding. She took a deep breath before looking at him and beginning the story.

_Three weeks had passed since Emma sent Will a video requesting that he comply with her – their – daughter's only request for Christmas: her dad. She checked the mail just as eagerly as she answered the phone every day, hoping that each mail delivery would hold a shattered hope, or each phone call would hold an excited compliance. At this point, Emma almost didn't care what the outcome was – she just wanted the waiting anxiously to stop. She was starting to give up hope, and Willow had already figured that Santa would just come for her birthday in May. _

_Emma was just settling into bed with a book when the phone on her nightstand rang. She jolted up, her hand flying out to grab the device. SCHUESTER, WILL flashed across the caller id and her heart stopped. This was it; he was finally calling to tell her that he wanted to meet their daughter. Emma was frozen, staring at the phone for a few rings, restarting her heart and calming her breathing. Her thumb hovered over the TALK button, shaking slightly before she hit it, holding the phone up to her ear._

"_W-will?" She asked silently, biting her lip._

"_Guess again, homewrecker." _

_Emma's heart stopped and her eyes widened. She swallowed and she could feel the colour draining from her face. That wasn't the voice she was expecting at all. She took a few deep breaths before swallowing again and clearing her throat. _

"_Terri…hi. How, uhm, how…what can I do for you?" She wanted to appear calm, but she could hear her voice shaking._

"_You know, Emma, I got the most interesting piece of mail today when Will and I got home from our Christmas vacation in the Bahamas. Yeah, it was a video…from you. Do you know what it was labeled?" The venom in Terri's voice was almost tangible, burning Emma's tongue, making her heart burn as it traveled down._

"_F-for Daddy." She breathed the words out._

"_For Daddy. Good memory. It's funny, there was a little girl claiming that she's Will's daughter on the tape, and then you giving your own little testimony on her behalf. Isn't that funny?" Terri paused, and when she spoke after Emma's silence, the annoyance in her voice was amplified – if that was even possible. "Emma? Isn't it funny?"_

_Emma rolled her eyes a bit, nodding. "Yes. Hilarious. Why are you calling me, Terri? That video was mailed __**to **__Will, and opening someone else's mail is a criminal offense. This has absolutely nothing to do with you; it has to do with my daughter wanting to know her father. So why are you calling me?"_

_Terri laughed. "Emma, this has everything to do with me. I was able to overlook Will taking you to California, and I was able to forgive him – out of the goodness of my heart – after he came home and told me he banged a ginger tramp at the beach in California. I married him despite his taste in trash. This, however, cannot be overlooked. I don't want kids."_

"_Well that's fantastic, Terri, because last I checked, SHE'S NOT YOURS! She's mine and your husbands, so why don't you stay out of this? You've done nothing but make my life hell since we met you freshman year, and I'm sick of it."_

"_Oh, sweetie. You think I made your life a living hell? Just wait to see what happens if Will finds you about your lovechild."_

"_What is that supposed to mean?"_

"_It means that I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, and I don't care. All I know is that you pretend like you're so great and you're so great for Will, but you're not. You're a tramp who got him to sleep with you in a moment of guilt and desperation, and an accidental child resulted from that. Your daughter is __**your**__ mistake to deal with, and you're not going to drag my husband down with you. Will and I don't want kids. So. If you're so __**great**__, you'd let it go and tell your child that she's not wanted. Not by her 'Auntie Terri' or her father. I'm sending the video back, and you're not to tell Will about her. Got it?"_

_Emma could feel anger boiling in her stomach as Terri spoke. Terri could talk about her all she wanted to, but you don't tell a mother that her child is a mistake. "First of all, my daughter is not a mistake. She's a miracle and I am a blessed woman to have her in my life. She's perfect, and I have your husband to thank for that. He should get a proper thank you, don't you think? What happens when I tell him? You can't stop me, Terri, and he deserves to know his child."_

"_If you tell my husband about your little mistake, I will make sure you're sorry, Emma Pillsbury. Willow not having her father will be the least of your pathetic worries. Do I make myself clear?"_

"_Are…are you threatening me and my daughter?"_

"_Have a good night, Emma." Her voice was sickly sweet before the line clicked dead and Emma stared at the phone before turning it off._

Will stared at the ground as Emma spoke, in shock. He knew Terri was capable of some messed up things, but threatening Emma and forcing her to keep this from him…that was a whole new level of crazy that he didn't even think was possible for her. He glanced at Emma once she'd been silent for a moment, looking at her with wide eyes. His mouth fell open and he shook his head.

"Emma…I'm…I'm so sorry. I – I can't believe that she did that." He was so sincere in speaking.

Emma shook her head a bit. "Don't be sorry. She had you fooled, but I saw her. I saw her for who she was to me when you weren't looking. You didn't know – how could you? She treated you like you walked on water for her."

"I'd only walk on water for you." Will nodded very seriously before letting out a breath. "God, Emma. What happened after that? What did you tell Willow?"

_The next morning, Emma woke up extra early to make blueberry muffins from scratch. They were Willow's favourite thing that Emma made – besides her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – and Emma would need to rely on them to soften the blow of what she was going to have to tell her daughter .As the muffins came out of the oven, Emma placed them on the counter to cool and busied herself with cleaning, cursing the clock. Why did time always pass faster when you were about to shatter someone's little world?_

_When Willow walked into the kitchen, she was rubbing her eyes; her ginger curls a bedhead mess. Her footie pajamas were somehow on backwards and Emma laughed, walking over to her. _

"_Baby girl, I don't know what you do in your sleep, but this happens every morning." She bent over and kissed her little nose sweetly, helping her to get her pajamas on properly. Willow looked up at her mother with a sleepy smile and squinted eyes._

"_Mommy, why does it smell like muffins?"_

"_I made you special muffins this morning." _

_The little girl perked up, clapping her hands together. "Yay!" She moved to the kitchen table and sat down, watching as her mother put almond butter on muffin halves, plating them and taking them over to the table, placing one in front of Willow and one in front of herself. They ate in silence together for the most part, Willow only interjecting once to tell about a dream she had the previous night about being a ladybug. When they finished, the little girl hopped up to go play with her toys before she had to get dressed, but Emma reached out for her._

"_Hey, Willow, can you come here really quickly?"_

_The little girl nodded and Emma opened up her arms for her daughter. Willow climbed up onto Emma's lap and leaned against her, her ear resting over Emma's heart. Emma's arms folded around her daughter gently and she kissed her head, rocking her for a moment before looking down at her._

"_So, Willow? Do you remember what you wanted for Christmas?" She spoke tenderly to her child, knowing she was going to be disappointed._

_She nodded, and Emma could hear the smile in her voice. "I asked for Daddy!"_

"_Well listen, baby girl, I got a call from Santa last night." Emma ran a hand over her daughter's hair gently. "It looks like getting your Christmas present was a lot harder than he thought it would be."_

"_What do you mean?" Willow looked up at her mother, eyes wide and innocent. Emma's heart broke._

"_I mean…that Santa couldn't get you your daddy for Christmas."_

_Willow thought this over for a moment. "Can he for my birthday?"_

_Emma's head shook. "He can't for your birthday, either."_

_Willow's little lip trembled and her eyes pooled with tears. She blinked and one fell over to her cheek. "I don't get my daddy?"_

_Emma looked down at her daughter and her own eyes filled with tears. She leaned down to kiss the tear away from Willow's cheek. "I'm sorry, sweetheart." _

"She cried for two hours." Emma nodded, looking at him. "She wanted it so badly, and we all thought it would be a guaranteed thing, you wanting to meet her. None of us factored in Terri intercepting the video."

Will did nothing but nod. He had no idea what to say to Emma in response to that story. He hated that he had unknowingly hurt them, thanks to Terri. Then again, he had no idea that Willow existed. He looked at her and took a deep breath.

"I would have come. I would have met her. I would have loved her so much, Emma."

"Don't. Would haves don't do anything but drive you crazy. Trust me, there's a reason I still see a therapist, and it's not just because I need help managing my OCD."

"But I would have, Emma."

"I know, Will."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Will took a breath and sat back, resting his head back against the couch.

"Not just because of Willow, either, but because of you. I did some thinking last night."

"Oh?" Emma curled up on the couch, resting her head on his lap, laughing a bit. She felt like she was sixteen again, resting on Will's lap because he'd run his fingers through her hair. After a few moments, as if reading her mind, Will's hand reached down and he began to rake his fingers through Emma's hair, looking down at her as her eyes drooped closed. She was still the most beautiful person he'd ever seen in his life. He wanted nothing more than to love her and make her feel loved the way he should have been all of this time. He should have been cherishing her, loving her, making her the mother of more of his children, giving her a life she deserved.

It was in that moment, staring down at her, that he realized he still could.

"Yeah. If I hadn't been such a coward, I would have told you to love me as a girlfriend." Will nodded, seeing a smile spread across her lips. "I would have told you that I love you so much it makes my chest hurt because you're so beautiful."

Emma turned her head to look up at him. Her eyes opened and she stared up, locking her eyes with his. "Is this hypothetical?"

"Yes." Will smirked and raked her hair back from her head.

"Hypothetically, then, I would have responded that I love you just as much, and you make me feel complete. Even when we're distanced, you make me feel whole." She smiled up at him.

Will leaned down, his lips hovering over hers for a moment. Her lips parted and her eyes closed, as did his. "And hypothetically," he whispered, "I would have done this." He pressed his lips against hers tenderly and firmly, smiling against her lips a bit as she kissed him back. His fingers raking through her hair tangled in a bit, holding her close to him as her hand came to rest on his neck before he pulled away for air.

Their eyes locked and they each stared at each other, each of them filling their lungs with air. Emma swallowed, hearing nothing but her heart beating madly in her head. Will ran his tongue over his lips, wanting so badly to kiss her again. Emma shifted and sat up, moving to kiss him again, this time a bit more eagerly. He kissed her back readily, his hands resting at her waist.

"Em, this wasn't…the talk…I wanted to have…" he mumbled against her lips, smirking a bit as she pulled away.

"Sorry." She blushed and pulled away from him. "Just…you're a good kisser."

She licked her lips and moved to sit next to him, each of them turning to face each other on the couch. They stared at each other, Will laughing a bit. "So are you. You've improved." He laughed a bit at his joke as Emma swatted him.

"First, that's rude, and second, that's impossible. I haven't kissed anyone in…gosh, years." She shook her head, amazed.

"Years?" Will's eyes widened as he looked at her. "What about…" He raised an eyebrow.

"Not since before Willow."

"But Willow's _ten years old_, Emma!"

She nodded. "I know."

Will leaned forward with a small smile on his face, pressing is lips to hers. She kissed him back, allowing him to lay her back on the couch. He rested on top of her, trying to hold his weight up so as not to crush her beneath him. As their kisses grew in number and intensity, Will reached down to start unbuttoning Emma's shirt, his lips still working against hers. She pulled away from him, turning her head to the side and he smirked, moving his lips down to her neck, leaving a trail of kisses.

"W-what are you doing?" She asked, catching her breath. She felt him laugh against her skin.

"Hypothetically?" He asked, smirking and dropping another kiss. "What I would have done next."

Emma let out a laugh and a small moan, her eyes closing as he sucked on her pulse point. "Is that smart?"

He nodded, moving back to her lips and looking her in the eyes as he hovered above them. "All the parents are doing it."

Emma smiled and reached up, her hands cupping his cheeks gently, staring into his eyes. "Well in that case…" She laughed as she pulled him back down to her lips, crushing hers against his and kissing him eagerly.

They were just picking up where they left off…

Hypothetically speaking.

* * *

**A/N 2.0: **Just when you thought their relationship couldn't get any more complex...BOOM. ;)

**DISCLAIMER: **I still only own Willow Jane Schuester and Ginnifer Pillsbury. All the rest are property of RIB/FOX/GLEE.


	7. Drop of a Hat

_**A/N:**_Hello, hello! Goodness, me, it's taken me so long to update and I am so sorry about that. Life got in the way, I failed a driver's exam, then my brother came here and I haven't seen him much in two years, but I finally did it! I have finished Chapter 7, and I know exactly where I'm taking Chapter 8, so I hope I don't have to make you all wait too long for another update. R&R loved as always! -Tayma

* * *

Chapter 7: Drop of a Hat

The morning sun shone through the vertical slatted blinds on the far wall of Emma Pillsbury's living room sliding glass door. The warm brightness fell across her face, growing in intensity as the sun continued to rise and by nine a.m. the light was bright enough to penetrate her eyelids, causing her to see red as she was drawn to consciousness. She was curled up on the couch, covered with a throw blanket that she must have pulled off of the back of the couch in the middle of the night. The skin of her shoulder stuck to the leather of her couch as she shifted and she took in a deep breath through her nose, running a hand over her face, then her eyes a few times before she finally opened her eyes. She squinted in a very unattractive manner as the bright light blinded her and she sat up with a groan. Her long hair fell into her eyes and she shook her head momentarily, gaining her bearings. Once adjusted to the light, Emma blinked a few times, her eyes widening after each blink to let light in. It was then that she finally took in her surroundings and memories from the previous night came flooding into her brain.

_Will was everywhere at once, kissing her, holding her, his hands running over her body delicately and gently. He was cherishing her, embracing the opportunity to give her love in a way she'd been lacking for so long. Emma's hands were in his hair, on his arms, grasping his arms. Their lips would meet for moments of bliss before he'd pull away again to kiss her cheeks, her nose, her neck, her stomach, leaving Emma's lips begging for more. Their clothes were all but gone when something finally clicked in Emma's brain._

_Suddenly, rational Emma moved back into place, her brain putting together the reality of the situation. This wasn't right. It was too soon and it wasn't fair to either of them to take advantage of…whatever this was. They needed time to look at their feelings, evaluate them, factor in Willow…there were too many potential bumps in the road that could lead to more unhappiness. Sure, they could pick up where they left off as if nothing had happened, as if they didn't have a child together; they could act like time stopped ten years ago and was finally ticking away again. _

_But then what? What happens come morning? What happens when the sun comes up, and the goggles of whatever they were both feeling come off? What happens then?_

_Emma reached up, placing a hand over Will's mouth as he leaned down to press another tender kiss to her lips. She swallowed, her head shaking slowly. He stared down at her with confused eyes and she sighed. "No."_

_Will stared at her, her one-word statement clearly not breaking through the barrier in his head. When nothing was said, Emma shifted to sit up a bit more, looking up at him._

"_This isn't right, Will. Right now is not the time to do this. W-we can't."_

"_We can, Emma. We both have the ability to – it's whether or not we want to, and I – you weren't exactly giving me signals of dislike just now." He propped himself up to look into her eyes. "What's on your mind?"_

_She thought for a moment, chewing on her lower lip, her gaze meeting his while her mind processed what exactly was inside of it. "It's just…you come over here after having seen videos of your daughter when she's small, and you hear about how your ex-wife screwed over your relationship with said daughter, and you say these things about you 'would have' been here. This is all in the moment, and I understand that in the moment is a good thing, but not in this case. Do you understand?"_

"_I understood up until you started talking about in the moment. That's when passion is greatest – spontaneous, in-the-moment moments." Will's eyes searched her face for a better understanding of her words. _

"_Will, this is in the moment, and it's great, but come morning it may not be so great. Come morning, you may see me differently; we may not want this when we're thinking clearly."_

_Will sat up, moving to sit next to Emma on the couch. He hiked up his boxers a bit before glancing over at her, watching her sit up and pull a pillow to cover her torso. "I'll still want this thinking clearly, Em. I still love you…I – I thought you still cared about me like that as well. I thought that's what this was." He gestured to the couch, referencing their previous moments together._

_She nodded. "I do still love you, but this isn't just you and I right now. If we get together now, things could go very well for us and in the morning, we'll be in love and back to how it used to be. But more than likely, we'll get together, something will happen to ruin us, and Willow will lose you again. Right now, we can't afford that when she just got you back."_

"_Emma." Will took her hands in his, shifting to look at her. "Can't we just be eighteen again? For one night, just act like kids?"_

"_No." She shook her head, straightening her bra straps before standing to pick up their clothes from the floor. Her voice had a tone of finality, and Will made a face._

"_Why not?"_

"_Because I said so. Here." Emma handed him his clothes before moving to grab hers._

"_Emma, you may be a mother, but you're not mine. 'Because I said so' isn't going to shut me up." His eyebrows raised and he took his clothes from her, setting them in his lap._

_She turned to look at him, swallowing a bit. "The last time we were eighteen and acting like kids for one night, I ended up pregnant at university and you ended up on Broadway. That's why." She stared at him, fiddling with the tank top she held in her hands. Will looked at Emma with a guilty expression and she sighed. "Can you please just get dressed?"_

_He nodded and silence fell over them. They dressed together, Emma slipping her tank top and skirt back on while Will re-dressed in his jeans and button-down. He sat back down on the couch and looked at his hands, unsure of how to feel; understanding or reprimanded. _

_Emma moved to sit by Will, taking his hands in hers. "Hey." She threaded their fingers together and looked at him. "Look at me." When he finally did, she gave him a small smile. "Remember the other day, just before you left? We talked about the possibility of us loving each other like nobody else had, and you told me 'Now just isn't the right time.' You weren't saying no forever. You were just saying not right now. Same thing applies here. Figure out when and how you can love me, and then we'll discuss this step. Okay?"_

_He nodded and seemed to relax a bit, her words reassuring him that they'd get their time. They just needed time to sort everything out before their real time could truly come. "Okay." He smiled slightly and Emma moved forward to peck his lips gently._

"_Okay." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and Will held her close, pressing his face into her hair gently. "I guess I should go?" He asked after minutes of silent hugging._

_Emma shook her head, pulling back to look at him. "No, you don't have to go. I've got _Dirty Dancing_ on the DVR and…there's one way that we can act eighteen again." _

"_What's that?"_

"_I seem to recall eighteen year old Will and Emma liked to cuddle up with popcorn watching movies. I think that's how they spent a good portion of Winter Break when your girlfriend was away visiting family." Emma gave him a wide smile._

_Will laughed. "You recall correctly. But we have work tomorrow, Em. It's already after midnight."_

"_We have four days left until summer and I haven't used a single sick day all year. What about you?"_

"_I haven't, either."_

_Emma fake coughed a little bit. "Oh, I think I caught the flu. And I kissed you, so, oh no. You caught the flu, too."_

_They shared a laugh before Emma reached for the remote again. She turned the television on, finding her recording of Dirty Dancing and pressing play. Will laid back on the couch and opened his arms, Emma falling into them and snuggling her back against him. _

"_I still have the best best friend ever." Emma said, glancing back at him._

_Will laughed. "Yep. You sure sound eighteen."_

_After that, they were silent as they watched the movie, and in time they both fell asleep on the couch. Emma was first to fall asleep, and Will reached for the remote, shutting off the movie and cuddling into Emma, allowing himself to follow her into slumber._

Emma glanced around her living room before standing up, wrapping herself in her blanket. She wondered momentarily if Will had gone home the previous night, but the scent of coffee wafting through her nostrils told her otherwise. She ran a hand through her hair and padded to the kitchen, yawning upon entrance.

"Good morning, Em." Will said from the counter, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Morning." Emma took the cup from him and sipped it, moving to sit at a bar stool by the kitchen island.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah. I need to call into work first, though." Her eyes caught the clock and widened at the knowledge that it was half past nine.

Will shook his head, walking over and setting a plate of French toast, eggs, and fruit down in front of Emma. "No need. I called in. I told Figgins you came down with the flu and I'm taking care of you. He says get well soon." He winked at her and sat across from her with his own plate. "I hope you don't mind I made breakfast. It's the polite thing to do when you sleep over at someone's house."

Emma picked up a fork, stabbing a piece of egg, smiling across at him. "I don't mind in the slightest. Thank you – and thank you for calling in. I'm so sorry for falling asleep last night." She took the bite of egg and chewed slowly, watching Will do the same.

"Don't apologize, Em. It's not like I haven't had you fall asleep in the middle of a movie before. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded, eating a few more bites, taking a sip of water before answering vocally. "I did. I was warm, from what I remember, and I didn't wake up once which is a rare occurrence. What about you?"

"I slept great, thanks. Why is sleeping through the night a rare occurrence?" Will's eyebrow raised as he continued eating.

"Well it started when I was pregnant with Willow. I'd dream in the middle of the night that I'd miscarried or that she was born early and I lost her. I used to wake up constantly, waiting for her to kick before I could sleep again. Then when she was born, I'd dream that you or Terri or a stranger would come and kidnap her and keep her from me, and that was the new dream that took over. Even now, I wake up and have to go check on her in her room sometimes because I've dreamed Terri's done something to her or she's been taken from me." Emma shrugged and looked at him. "I know it's ridiculous, but I can't help what my mind does."

Will nodded and they remained silent as they finished up eating. Will couldn't imagine what it would be like; having those constant dreams and worries. He couldn't really wrap his mind around ten years of unpleasant dreams and thoughts of your child being taken – then again, until recently, he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that being a father was a possibility for him.

When breakfast was finished, they did the dishes together. Emma washed and Will dried, and they allowed the silence to hang between them, each of them in their own little world.

"So," Emma began when they were finished, turning to look at him, "What were you planning on doing for playing hooky from work?"

Will shrugged. "I was going to ask you the same."

"Would you like to watch more videos of Willow? You can choose whichever you'd like." Emma led him through to a hall closet and opened it, revealing shelves of videos of Willow's life. "You can take them or watch them here. Whichever."

Will's eyes widened, taking in the rows of VHS tapes. This closet was his key to knowing his daughter completely, filling in her life before him as much as possible. He thought her words over, glancing at her. "If I were to watch them here, would you watch them with me?"

"Oh, no, I hate watching videos of my pride and joy." She looked at him, a smile playing at her lips. "Of course I would."

"Okay, well, how about I go home and shower, and then I can come back and we can watch a couple of them." He shrugged a bit. "If you want to that is."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great. I can shower and get the living room straightened up and everything, too. How about we plan for starting to watch them in an hour and a half?"

"Perfect." He looked over the videos for a moment before reaching forward, pulling out one that said "Father-Daughter School Day" and one that said "Wilma Mommy-Daughter Birthday." He was curious about who ended up standing in on Father-Daughter day…maybe it was Emma. "Let's watch these."

Emma took the videos with a smile, leading him to the door. "Alright. See you soon."

He waved, stepping outside. "See you soon."

When Will arrived later, Emma was completely ready for their afternoon watching home videos. She had a box of tissues set on the coffee table because she often cried watching videos of Willow. She was such a beautiful little girl and Emma was so proud of her daughter, but she grew up far too fast for Emma's liking. It made her heart swell and break at the same time, watching her teeter around on the screen at three years old, only to look away from the television to see her ten year old daughter coloring or reading a book.

Next to the box of tissues, Emma had the videos set out, as well as a plate of Willow and Will's favourite cookies. She'd dressed in a pair of shorts and a loose cotton t-shirt and let her hair down, drying it and waving it. Now, sitting next to the plate was a tray of coffees Will picked up on the way over, as well as a plate of sandwiches he'd made before coming over. "This way we don't have to break for lunch," he had said upon entering, a proud smile on his face.

The pair settled down on the couch, Will resting against the couch back, while Emma curled into his side, resting her head in his lap. His arm curled around her, rubbing her back absent-mindedly as Emma pressed PLAY, starting the video marked "Father-Daughter School Day."

-x-x-x-

Every day from that night through to Friday, Will and Emma had the same schedule: go to work, come home, make dinner, watch videos together. Not only was it a good time for Will to learn about his daughter and catch up on everything that he missed, but it was good time for Will and Emma to reconnect and get their friendship back on track. They got along perfectly well and were bonding great together. Each of them separately realizing that with time, they could have the relationship that they had always wanted together…at least, that was the feeling before Saturday afternoon rolled around.

Will walked into the room, holding up a video. "I think we should watch this one." He said, walking towards Emma and holding it out for her to see. She looked up from her spot on the couch and read the label. 'Schuebury dinner.' Emma shook her head.

"Uh, no. How about we watch something else, I don't think you would like that one." Emma reached out for it, but Will pulled away and raised an eyebrow. "Is Willow in it?"

Emma nodded. "Well, yeah, but…uhm, it's Willow being born, and it's graphic. I don't think that's a good idea."

"The video of you giving birth is called Schuebury dinner?" Will chuckled. "I don't think so, Em." He shook his head and walked over, putting the video in and pressing play, then returning to the seat next to Emma. He sat back and looked over at Emma with a smile.

"_Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa are here!" Willow squealed, jumping up and down and looking at the camera. She had to be about six or seven years old, her hair pulled back into one long French braid. _

_Emma chuckled from behind the camera and nodded. "I know, sweetie. Let them get out of the car before attacking them." _

_Willow nodded, but hurried to the front door and before they could even knock, the door was thrown open to reveal Paul and Amanda Schuester standing in the doorway. Willow yelped excitedly as the pair stepped through the door with wide smiles on their faces, and large box accompanying them which was held in Amanda's arms._

"_Grandma! Grandpa!" Willow yelled, running and throwing her tiny body into her grandfather's embrace, their faces housing matching grins. Paul scooped up Willow and held her close, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek and then her forehead as the little girl squeezed around his neck as hard as she could. The excitement in her tiny body was making her practically rigid with joy._

"_Here's our little cupcake! How are you, princess?" Paul asked, beaming at his granddaughter as she pulled away to look at him, her little fingers playing with his mustache – an action which never ceased to make her giggle._

"_Alright." Was her response, her tiny shoulders rising and falling in a shrug. Willow's eyes fell to Amanda who leaned over to kiss her nose. _

"_Just alright? Well what if Grandma Mandi and Papa Paul picked you out a very special gift for you? Would that make you more than just 'alright'?" Amanda asked, chuckling a bit as Willow gasped excitedly in Paul's arms, her little head nodding wildly at her question._

_Paul set Willow down and she ran off camera. The cameral moved forward and tilted a little bit as Emma hugged each of them. "Hi, Paul, Amanda. Thanks for coming on such short notice. I didn't know we'd be back in Lima so soon, and she's been dying to see you."_

"_Of course, dear, of course," Amanda said, beaming at the camera. "Any chance to see her is stop what we're doing time! Thank you for letting us know."_

_Emma turned, and the camera followed into the living room and Paul chuckled off camera._

"_What?" That was Emma again._

"_You and that damn camera, Emma. Every time we see her you're filming something." He laughed again and moved into the frame, scooping up Willow and holding her on his hip._

"_It's for a very good reason!" Emma said, laughing as well._

"_Yeah, Grandpa!" Willow said, making a little face which caused her grandparents to laugh._

"_Just like your Dad, little one." Amanda piped in._

Will paused the tape and glanced over at Emma. She was biting her lip delicately and looking down at her lap. Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as she made a conscious effort to avoid looking at Will.

"Emma…" Will was glaring at her slightly, his voice shaking with attempted hidden anger. She said nothing, focusing in on her shirt hem more, "Emma, look at me."

Her lip pulled between her teeth and she bit down, keeping her head bowed and glancing over at Will from the corner of her eyes. "Mmm?"

"How old is this video?"

She looked puzzled, her eyebrows pulled together. "Which video?"

"Don't mess with me, Emma." The annoyance in his voice was clear, and Emma knew he was not happy in the slightest. "This video that we are watching. How old is it?" He studied her face, his eyes practically boring holes into her profile and she looked back down at her lap.

"Oh, that video…uhm…three years?"

"Three…three…" Will stood up, his hand over his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, anger burning in the pit of his stomach. He thought all this time that Emma kept Willow from his whole family. When he called his parents the other night to tell them about Willow, they both acted surprised and over the moon with joy, like they'd never heard about this before. And now he finds out that he's been lied to. For ten years. By everyone that he's cared about. "How long have they known?"

"Known what?" Emma asked, finally glancing up at him, her face worried and slightly scared.

"Dammit, Emma! About Willow – how long have my parents known about Willow?"

"Since she was one." She answered quickly, not liking that his voice had escalated to the point of yelling.

"One? And how the _hell _do they know, Emma? How did they find out? Please enlighten me!" He could feel his fists shaking slightly, staring down at his supposed best friend.

"Uhm…I came home for Christmas, and your parents happened to be by my parents' house for the holiday, and they saw her. We tried passing her off as my niece, but she looked nothing like Ginnifer and when Willow kept calling only me 'Mama' they sort of figured it out." Emma bit her lip slightly and swallowed. "I made them promise not to say anything, and after telling them my reasoning, they agreed that you should know her, but that they felt I was doing what was best for everyone involved at the time. They promised to keep quiet about it. I always worried that they'd tell anyways, but Paul and Amanda care about us, and they kept our secret."

Will stared down at Emma, shaking his head. His jaw was set and there was a glare on his face. He took a few deep breaths their eyes locked in a stare. After what felt like forever, Will let out a disbelieving laugh and turned, heading towards the front door.

"Will?" Emma stood and followed him, grabbing his arm and shaking her head. "Don't walk away from me after staring at me like you want to kill me. What's going on in your head?"

He turned and looked over her head. "You _lied _to me, Emma! You lied to me and I've overlooked it, but for what? To forgive you for getting everyone I care about to lie for you? Terri kept this from me, you kept this from me – my own damn _parents_ kept this from me! I can't – I can't even look at you right now!" He yanked his arm from her and turned to her front door, pulling it open and stepping out into the afternoon air.

"Will, I'm sorry, please!" She stood in the doorway

He turned to look at her. "I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that you're not the woman I lost my virginity to. I'm sorry that you've changed, Emma, and I'm sorry that you're not the girl I grew up with and called a best friend." He nodded very seriously. "I'm sorry that you didn't have the sense to tell me that you loved me, I'm sorry that _you _kept me out of your life, and I'm sorry that because of you, Willow never had her dad. I'm also sorry that you're a liar."

Each of Will's 'apologies' stabbed Emma in the heart. Her face crumpled, attempting to hold back the tears that were threatening to show how upset Will was making her. She swallowed thickly and shook her head, taking a deep breath through her nose. "Please, Will. This past week – it was perfect and it's how it's supposed to be and I'm sorry, I really am. I just didn't know what else to do. I was eighteen and scared and stupid; you can't fault me for being a child."

"No, you're right, I can't. But I can fault you for still continuing to lie to me, Emma! You should have told me all of this after I met Willow, rather than continuing on with the lies; hiding truths from me! It's not fair to me." Will turned to his car and unlocked it, getting in the front seat and slamming his door shut.

Emma rushed over and tapped on his window, hearing the car starting before the glass rolled down. "What about Willow? She gets home tomorrow, Will. You promised you'd be here." Her heart was aching, thinking that Will would break a promise to his daughter – even if she was a new addition to his life. She was still a child and this would crush her.

His shoulders shrugged. "You're a superb liar, Emma. I'm sure you'll figure something out." He threw the car into drive and turned out of the gate, speeding down the road. He was furious, and it was coming off towards Emma, but he knew a lot of it was at his parents, and even more at himself. He should have made himself more open to her, but she should have been more honest with him.

She watched him drive away, staring off into space in somewhat of a daze. She could not believe this was happening. Everything was going so well. This past week had been amazing and she felt like on some level they were reconnecting again; sharing a bond over their daughter. How had things gone from good to bad with the drop of a hat? Deciding not to panic, Emma went inside and took a deep breath. She called Amanda and Paul to let them know what happened, warning them that she worried Will would be heading over there from her place. They both reassured her that Will wouldn't let Willow down, but as Emma hung up the phone and laid back down on the couch, Emma couldn't be confident that their words were true.


	8. Serving Emma

**A/N: **So before people start talking about how Emma and Will seem out of character in this chapter, I am aware that they are slightly out of character, but situations such as this tend to bring out parts of people's character rarely ever seen. So even though it is somewhat out of character as far as Will and Emma on Glee, it's in character for their purpose in this story. R&R Loved as always! (: and yay for a quicker update than last time! :D -Tayma

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Chapter 8: Serving Emma

"_Hey, it's Will Schuester and I can't get to the phone right now. But if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I get a moment."_

"_Hey, Will. This, uhm, this is Emma. Look, I know you're angry with me right now, but Willow's home. She's asking about you. I got her to bed and everything, and she's sleeping well. She's a bit sunburned and her freckles have popped like crazy from her time at the beach…anyways…please give me a call back. Even if just to talk to Willow. Okay? Right…bye."_

-x-x-x-

"_Hey, it's Will Schuester and I can't get to the phone right now. But if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I get a moment."_

"_Will…hi, it's me again. Just wondering if you're planning on calling Willow soon. She's going crazy asking for you, wanting to call you. I've told her you're a bit busy and that you'll call her back when you have a moment, but I don't know how much longer she'll accept that. It's been two weeks, Will. I get not talking to me, but you can't ignore Willow…it's impossible to ignore Willow. Call me back."_

-x-x-x-

"_Hey, it's Will Schuester and I can't get to the phone right now. But if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I get a moment."_

"_I'm seriously getting annoyed now. I've left you at least ten messages and you're not calling back at all. You're not punishing me nearly as much as you're punishing your daughter. You must be listening to these because your voicemail box isn't full yet, so seriously, call back."_

-x-x-x-

"_Hey, it's Will Schuester and I can't get to the phone right now. But if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I get a moment."_

"_Will, it's been almost a month…I don't know what to say anymore…Call me."_

-x-x-x-

A month and a half passed had passed since Will walked out of Emma's front door and seemingly out of her life again. Emma called him multiple times, trying to get ahold of him to apologize and set up a time to meet with Willow, but he never answered. He never called back, either. After a few weeks of Willow asking nonstop about Will and did he call back, and would he be coming by to see her any time soon, she seemed to give up hope. Emma thought that maybe Willow forgot about Will and just went back to how things were before he walked into her life for a few days, but she was naïve to believe that would have been the case.

Many times, Emma wondered if falling in love with men was a genetic thing, because if it was, she clearly passed it on to her daughter. Emma remembered meeting Will when she was a kid and instantly feeling attached to him, like she absolutely _had_ to know him after only a few days of friendship. Willow was the same way, but Emma wondered if this need to know Will was stronger because he was Willow's father. Willow always wanted to know him, and now that she got to, even as small of a taste as she got, she didn't want to let that experience go.

In the period of a few days and then a week away from home hearing stories from her grandparents about Will and Emma when they were younger, Willow had fallen in love with the fact that Will was her dad. When she got home and he wasn't there, she wondered what she'd done wrong, but Emma assured her that she did nothing wrong. He just had some unexpected plans come up. Over the course of the month, Emma repeatedly promised Willow that Will loved her very much and he was just busy, and she thought Willow was accepting it. Like always, though, her daughter caught her off guard with her perception of things.

_Willow walked into the kitchen for breakfast, a little yawn escaping her lips. Emma smiled at her, taking in one of her favorite sites: just awake Willow. She looked like she did when she was a baby when she'd just woken up, her face carrying the same look of 'Why am I up and why is it not as warm'. Willow shuffled over to the breakfast table, sitting down and hardly even looking at her mother when her breakfast was placed in front of her. It was only then that Emma noticed she was pouting, too._

"_Good morning, baby doll." Emma said, leaning down to kiss Willow's nose gently. Willow didn't respond, but started picking at her toast sulkily. "What's wrong sweetie?" Emma sat down next to her, resting her chin on the table so she could meet Willow's eyes._

_Willow shrugged. "Nothing." Emma stayed silent, watching her, knowing a few moments of silence hanging in the air would make Willow feel like she could continue. As expected, after a few seconds of nothing, Willow's hazel eyes darted up to her mother's brown ones. "Has Dad called you yet?"_

_Emma's head shook a little bit and this time she averted her eyes. "No, he hasn't. But you know what, maybe he will today. We just have to keep our hopes up." She smiled reassuringly and kissed her nose again, getting up to clean up the kitchen while Willow ate._

"_I don't think so." Willow shook her head, still looking down at her plate, fiddling with the piece of toast._

"_Why not?"_

_Another shrug. "I just don't really think he loves me like you said so."_

_Emma whipped around to look at Willow, her eyebrows furrowed. "Willow, you know that is not true." She said, walking over to her and crouching before her._

"_No I don't. He left again. That doesn't sound like loving someone." She sounded so adult, and it caught Emma off guard. She wondered what happened to her happy go lucky ten year old._

"_He never left you, though. I kept him away from you at first, and then Terri did, and then I did again. He never knew about you, Willow, and I've told you that your whole life, that it wasn't his fault you didn't know him." She paused. "If you should be upset with anyone, Wills, it's me."_

_Willow's head shook. "I can't be mad at you."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because you're my mommy and you actually love me." She said it quietly and Emma's heart broke, the thought that Willow could feel anything but loved crushed her. She'd done everything she could to make sure Willow wouldn't hurt, and in a month and a half, she'd managed to screw that up by letting Will in. She didn't know which feeling was stronger in that moment: feeling like she failed her daughter again or feeling like she wanted to smack Will across the face for disappearing on a ten year old._

_Emma pulled Willow against her and hugged her close, placing a kiss on top of her head. She stroked Willow's curly hair gently and rested her cheek against the top of her daughter's head gently. "And I will always love you forever. You know that, right?"_

_Willow nodded, hugging her mother back gently. "You never leave me, either."_

_Emma's head shook. "Never, ever. You're my baby."_

_Willow was quiet for a second before nodding again. "I love you lots."_

"_I love you lots, too." She kissed her head again. "Are you going to eat your toast, or do you want to go see Gramma Rose and see if she'll make you pancakes?" Rose always seemed to 'happen to be making pancakes' any time Willow and Emma showed up in the morning._

"_Gramma's?" Willow asked, and Emma could hear a small smile in her voice. _

"_Alright. Go get dressed and then we'll head over, okay?" Emma kissed Willow's forehead again, grabbing her hand before she could run away. "Hey, whoa! Hold on, I don't think I got a good morning kiss from my favorite kid." She smiled as Willow hit her little forehead jokingly at her forgetfulness, then kissed Emma's cheek before running off to get dressed._

_Emma watched her go before picking up the phone and dialing a number that was becoming all too familiar at this point. She listened to the rings, letting out a sigh, and then—_

"_Hey, it's Will Schuester and I can't get to the phone right now. But if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I get a moment."_

"_Will, it's been a month, and I get it. You're not calling back and I don't think you're planning on it. So this is the last message you're going to get from me. I don't know what's going through your head, but I'm sorry for lying to you all of this time. You don't even understand what it's like to have been in my position, so you have no place to judge me for how I handled the situations and you have no control over it. But you can control how you act, and while I'm trying to act like an adult and make up for my mistakes, you're acting like a child and running away. I get that you haven't been in Willow's life, and I get that the time you were in was only for a couple of days, but you can't just walk away like you did. I have a heartbroken kid over here who is pretty sure that you don't love her and that you left her. No matter the reasoning or the justification, you did leave her, after walking into her life and promising to be here. You're trying to punish me, but you're ending up hurting my daughter, and that is not okay. I'm not even going to ask you to call back this time. I really don't want you to."_

_She waited a moment before clicking the end button and walking out of the kitchen, slamming the phone down on the receiver on her way out._

When the doorbell rang, Emma didn't hear it at first. She was elbow-deep behind the couch, trying to clean up the dust bunnies that had somehow managed to accumulate behind it without Emma's knowledge. Emma had allowed herself to go on an all-day cleaning bender while Willow was with her parents. Willow was so down after their conversation a few days prior about Will that Rose offered to take her for the weekend. They were going shopping and having grandma-Willow bonding time, which Emma knew always made Willow happier. On the second ring, Emma pulled her headphones out in time to hear a rapping at the door.

"Coming!" She said, setting the hand vacuum down on the couch and pulling her gloves off. Setting them down on the vacuum, Emma wiped her forehead a little and walked to the door, pulling it open.

Her eyes fell upon the man standing before her and she allowed her eyes to roll before turning and walking away from the door in silence. He could come in if he wanted to, but she wasn't about to invite him. She shoved her headphones back into her ears and turned up the volume, moving to finish up her job. Well aware that she was acting as old as her daughter, Emma shook her head. She was just so frustrated.

"Emma!" Will called, stepping through the door. "Em-ma. Dammit, Emma, take the headphones out." He walked towards her. "EMMA!"

Emma yanked the ear buds out. "What do you want?" She asked, turning to glare at him.

He stared at her, swallowing a little bit. His hand ran through his hair nervously and he sighed. "I wanted to talk to you. About Willow."

Emma laughed a little and shook her head. "No, you don't get to talk about Willow. You lost that privilege at the moment as I see it."

"I never even got the chance to have that privilege!" Will said, taking a step towards her. Emma took her own step towards him.

"You gave up that chance when you walked away from her! She was heartbroken that you weren't here when she got home like you promised. You had that chance, and you blew it!" She moved to put the vacuum away, her cleaning buzz completely killed.

"Emma, you lied to me for years. I didn't even know she existed, and then I find out that everyone _but_ me knew she existed. Excuse me for getting upset and needing a bit of time and space." He followed her down the hallway, grabbing her arm gently. "But Em, I want to get to know her. I just…I needed to process everything."

She pulled her arm away from him. "You should have said that, Will. You can't just walk away and not return calls, break a kid's heart and make her think that you don't love her and that you just left her. This situation wasn't just about you, Will. It stopped the minute you said you wanted to meet her and know her."

Will watched Emma silently and nodded. "You're right, and I'm sorry for walking away from her – from you, too. I was just so hurt, Emma that everyone had lied to me. What if everyone lied to you and then at the drop of a hat, your life changes and it turns out that you're the only one really in the dark?"

"I'd be upset, but I wouldn't disappear and hurt someone who knows no better than to love unconditionally because that is how she was raised." Emma started walking towards the living room again, Will trailing behind her.

"You don't understand the position I'm in, Emma."

Emma rolled her eyes, plopping down on the couch and looking at him. "Instead of playing this game of 'You don't understand, no, _you_ don't understand,' how about you just tell me why you are here so we can get this little meeting over with." It was clear that Emma was annoyed by him barging in, and Will wasn't exactly too thrilled to be there either. So he took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I want to see Willow. I want to apologize to her and offer to let her stay with me for the rest of the summer – if that is okay with you. Part of the reason I left was to reevaluate everything in this situation, and if I want to get to know Willow, I think it's better if you're not there as a buffer. I'll get to really know my kid, and you can have a summer off." He looked at her hopefully. Emma just stared before standing slowly and starting to pace a bit.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to just let you take my kid for a month and a half – without me being there – in an attempt to get to know her after you disappeared on her right after she got you in her life? Is that correct?" She looked at him and he nodded. She started to laugh. "Oh, my God! This is so typical Will! You never test the waters! You don't just toe your way in, ease your way into things. You jump straight in, and you hope that it will go your way because you are Will and nobody ever tells you no aside from Terri, but I don't know if I can do that, Will. This is my kid we're talking about." Emma trusted Will with a lot of things, but she trusted very few people with the care of Willow. The list was very short, and he couldn't be on that list. Not yet. She'd watched way too many TV shows about murders and parents kidnapping their own kids. Not that she thought Will would do that, but she was still a little paranoid.

"She's my kid, too, Emma." Will said simply, watching her pace, looking like she was deep in thought. He couldn't read her face.

Emma turned to stare at him. Never in her life had she wished harder than she did in that moment that she could contradict someone. Willow _was _his daughter, and he had every right to see her – isn't that what she'd argued to everyone through her daughter's existence? That he deserved to know about her, he had the right to see her, but it just wasn't the time? And now, what – because she didn't like the way things were going, she was going to contradict herself? It wasn't fair, and Emma knew that full well. Deep down, she was just so worried Willow would prefer Will over herself, and then she'd grow to resent Emma instead of love her as much as she did now.

"You're right. She's your kid, too. But she is also a child with a mind of her own, and she's as stubborn as the both of us combined."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, you have to talk to Willow. If she decides that she wants to go stay with you, and spend some time with you, I will not stop her from doing so even if it goes against my better judgment. I would also like to lower the time to two weeks. A month and a half is a long time, and I've never been apart from her for more than a couple of weeks her entire life." Just the thought made Emma a bit panicky.

Will nodded. "That sounds fair. Is she here?"

Emma's head shook. "No, my mom took her out for a while."

"Then I'll wait." Will said, walking towards the front door to sit on the porch steps.

"It could be a while."

"I'll wait."

The sun was starting to set when Willow arrived, her tiny hands weighed down with bags from the mall and her face bright with a smile. Rose always spoiled Willow when she was upset, and she tended to do the same for Emma as well. Knowing that Emma was bothered as well, she'd made a few purchases on her behalf, so she, too, was weighed down with bags of various things. The pair walked up to the front porch and through the front door.

"Mommy, I'm home!" Willow called out, dropping her bags by the front door and running through the house to the kitchen. "Gramma took me to the mall and we—" She paused, her eyes falling on the man in the chair next to her mother. Will had been forced to vacate the porch by Emma after an hour and a half of him waiting.

"Hey, Wills. Look who's here." Emma said, smiling a little bit and glancing at Will, then back at Willow. Her daughter's eyes were frozen on her father and her face was blank. The only suggestion that she was still functioning was the occasional blink.

Will stood and walked towards the little girl. "Hi, Willow."

Willow watched Will for a moment, then turned and walked out of the kitchen, storming off to her room. Rose stood in the kitchen doorway, glaring at Will slightly. She turned her gaze to Emma. "Em, Willow and I bought you some things. I took the bags to your room, and I am keeping the receipts, so you can't unspoil yourself this time. You do deserve it, so don't argue."

Emma nodded and sighed. "Thanks, Mom. I'll call you later?" She asked hopefully, her eyebrows raising as her head tilted. She didn't want to deal with her mother and Will at the same time right now, as well as a now upset Willow. Rose nodded.

"Of course. Talk with you later, Emma." Her eyes darted to Will before she turned and walked out of the kitchen, back to her car, and out of the neighborhood.

Will looked at Emma. "Should I go talk to her?"

"Yep." Emma nodded once and walked past Will, walking towards Willow's room. She sat down outside of the door and looked up at Will. "I'm here as referee. Just pretend I'm not here." Honestly, Emma wondered what Willow was going to say, and she knew if she went into the room, Willow's behavior would alter slightly. Call her an eavesdropper, but she was curious.

Will nodded before knocking and walking into Willow's room. The little girl was sitting at her small desk in the corner, a coloring book open in front of her and a box of crayons laying open on the surface. Her head twitched so she could look at who was in her bedroom before looking back to her coloring page without a word.

"Hi, Willow."

Silence. Will walked to sit on her bed next to her desk and rested his elbows on his knees. He folded his hands and rested his chin on them gently.

"You okay?" He asked quietly, and Willow's head shook.

"You mad?" Willow nodded.

"At me?" Her head nodded very surely now and Will sighed. He didn't know what else to say, so he just sat in silence, trying to figure out where to go from there.

"Do you want to know why?" Willow asked after she had finished coloring her page and started putting her crayons away.

"Yes, I do."

"It's because you don't love me." She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, her little shoulders rising and falling in a tiny shrug.

Will's eyebrows furrowed and he nodded. "Yes I do, Willow."

Her curly hair shook again and she looked at him. "You didn't call Mommy back, and you weren't here when I got home, and you didn't come see me. You don't love me."

Guilt washed over Will, listening to her reasoning in her tiny voice. She was young, but very sure of herself and her opinion in this moment. He cleared his throat to get rid of the lump forming in his airway, but it did him no good. It bobbed right back up again. "Willow, I do love you, and I am very sorry that I left, but I'm back now."

"I used to wish Auntie Terri was my mom." She confessed quietly, out of seemingly nowhere. Will's eyes darted towards the door where he knew Emma was listening and he hoped Willow's voice was quiet enough not to carry; he knew that would crush Emma. "Because I heard Mom telling Gramma you didn't want me for Christmas."

"But why did you wish she was your Mom?"

"I thought then you would want me."

"Do you still wish that?"

"Nope. I love my Mommy too much. She's the best Mommy ever."

Will nodded. "She's pretty great. She loves you so much, you know."

Willow nodded. "I know. I love her, too."

They fell silent again after that, Willow cleaning up her coloring stuff so her mother wouldn't get annoyed seeing it all over the place when her room was just cleaned. Finally, Will decided to just bite the bullet.

"I talked to your mom, and she said you could come stay with me if you want to. We could spend time together and I could make sure you know that I love you." Will nodded earnestly, really hoping she would take him up on the offer – even if she just wanted to spend time together.

Willow looked at him. "No, thank you." Her voice was sweet and delicate as she looked at the man who was her father.

Emma stood up from the wall outside of Willow's room and walked in, confused. She thought Willow would jump at the chance, and though she would have been reluctant, she would have agreed to let her go. "Wills? You don't want to go spend time with your dad?"

Her head shook and she looked at Emma very seriously. "He's not my dad."

Emma's eyes glanced nervously between her daughter and her best friend. "Uhm, yes he is, Willow. I was there when it happened. He is your dad."

"Nope. He isn't. Gramma said that a dad is there for you to help raise you and be there when you need them. A father contributes to making the baby. She said he wasn't there for me, so he's not my dad. He's my father." Emma groaned inwardly. Leave it to Rose to put something in Willow's head that would prevent healing this broken situation. It was so like her mother to do that.

"Well, then. Would you like to go spend time with your father?"

"No, thank you." Willow looked around a little bit uncomfortably. "Mommy, can you guys go now? I want to be by myself." She walked over to her bed and scrambled on top of it. She grabbed her copy of the first _Harry Potter _book and turned it to the page she had bookmarked and started reading.

Emma nodded and grabbed Will's arm, pulling him out of Willow's room. They walked down the hallway and stood in front of the front door. "Well, you heard her."

"Yeah, but she's a kid, Emma. She can't make a decision like this all on her own." Will sounded like he knew he was trying to fight a battle he'd definitely already lost.

"She's ten, and I'm not going to force her. If she doesn't want to, then she doesn't want to. Maybe she'll change her mind, but I'm not pressuring her one way or another. This is a big thing, so if she chooses to go with you, I will let you know." Emma gave him an apologetic smile. She rarely ever forced Willow to do anything she didn't want to, knowing what it felt like being forced into things growing up. Emma hated it, and she wasn't about to do the same to her own child.

"Emma, please."

The problem was that Will couldn't understand what parenting was, when he hadn't ever been a parent himself. No matter how much he could try to put himself in Emma's shoes, he would never be able to fully understand her position until he was actually in it, and as long as Willow put up a wall, Emma was not going to force her to take it down.

"I think you should go. I'll call you."

"Yeah, sure." He sighed, his eyes lingering on Emma for a moment before he turned and left.

-x-x-x-

It was the last week of summer and Willow still refused to acknowledge that she'd met her father. If there was anything Emma would have never expected, it would be learning that her daughter was a great grudge holder, and Rose wasn't helping any. Rose spent her time justifying Willow's actions, stating that it was perfectly normal; while Willow hid behind any opinions Rose may have and allowed herself to be pumped with thoughts and opinions by her grandmother.

After Will's rejection by his daughter, he'd spent days calling Emma, trying to get her to talk to Willow, but she flat out refused. She said that when Willow brought it up, she would talk about it only as long as her daughter wanted to, and then it was over. She was not going to force a life decision on a ten year old, and Emma wasn't going to make a decision about it anymore because it was breaking her heart. Either she kept Willow away and was made a bad mother for preventing her from seeing her father, or she forced Willow to go and she was made a bad mother for making her do something that she didn't want to do. Both seemed to be in Willow's best interest and neither of them were something Emma was willing to do. So for the first time in her life, she let everything go and stopped caring about how Will would feel about the end result and allowed Willow to guide the situation.

Every time Will called, he would ask to speak to Willow. Every time, Willow would either refuse to talk to him or sit on the phone silently, listening to him while he talked to her. Sometimes, Will would ask to come over and see Willow, but Emma would tell him no. This was difficult enough on Willow – and to be honest, on Emma, too – and she didn't want to force his company on her. Eventually, Will stopped asking to talk to Willow, and then he stopped calling altogether, realizing the only thing the phone calls did was make him pissed off at Emma and upset because somehow he'd managed to screw up his relationship with his daughter before it even had the chance to be started. The last time he called, he warned Emma that he would make sure he got to be in Willow's life, to which Emma replied, "Of course, Will. Just give it some time, okay?" He'd agreed, but he planned on taking 'time' into his own hands.

A few days before school started, Emma was in the living room with Willow, getting all of her school supplies together. Their floor was covered in paper and pens and pencils, wrappers were scattered everywhere. There was a knock on the door and Emma glanced up, surprised. She hadn't been expecting anyone. She kissed Willow's head and informed her that she would be back. Standing, she walked to the front door and opened it.

Standing before her was a man in a suit. He looked very distinguished, his grey hair giving him an air of wisdom, while his steely eyes made him look younger than he probably was. "Emma Pillsbury?" He asked in a smooth, deep voice.

Emma nodded. "Yes?"

He held out an envelope. "You've been served." He handed her the large manila envelope before turning and walking briskly back to his car.

Emma's mouth fell open and she looked down at the envelope in her hands, feeling like the wind was knocked out of her.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **Will, Emma, Rose and Glee still are not mine in any way. They all belong to RIB and FOX. Willow Jane, however, is still purely my creation.


	9. I'm No Superman, But I'm No Villain

**A/N: So, just under two months, but here is Chapter 9! For those of you who follow my Tumblr, you know that school has me in its death grip and it's making writing these fics a bit more difficult. I'm still chugging away, though! This update is actually a month EARLIER than expected! All that being said, if it reads rushed, I apologize, it's just how my mind has been working lately. R&R is loved as always, and a big thank you to Syndey (Sydney3) for reading through this for me! -Tayma**

* * *

Chapter 9: I'm No Superman, But I'm No Villain

"I can't believe he's using this against me!" Emma sat on the couch in her mother's living room, rubbing the place where her forehead met the bridge of her nose. It had been days since she was served with papers requiring her to go to court for a custody hearing, and she was still stressing out over it. She'd been to her parents a couple of times and only just talked to Rose about it in deeper detail, thankful Rusty finally took Willow up on her request to go to the movies. "I'm fine! My OCD has not been a problem since Willow was so much smaller! But now my 'mental stability' is being taken into account, along with the moral fiber because I've been a liar for ten years? Mom, I can't handle this."

"He's playing dirty to get what he wants, Emma." Rose looked at her daughter, sighing a little bit. "My bet is he got to talking with an attorney, they picked and chose different details that would paint you in a bad light, and then assured him that was the way to go. Will is a lot of things, but he's not malicious."

"But he is trying to force me and Willow into something she has decided she is not ready for. And who am I to force her into doing something like this when she's not ready?"

"You're her mother."

Emma stood up and glared at the older woman, furrowing her eyebrows. "You're taking his side in this? You think I should have made her go to his house, feel uncomfortable, make her anxious and for what? So he could be happy and feel like he's doing something? No!"

"I'm not taking his side, Emma Roxanne. I'm just saying you're her mother – you ask who are you to force her? You're her mother and if you choose to force her, you can. Now you know I don't exactly want that boy around here, so don't go playing the 'world is against me' card. I'm on your side, but I'm trying to get you to see he is playing dirty and the argument he will make? You're her mother, and you should have been more encouraging." Rose spoke calmly, and beckoned Emma to sit back down. "I know you're upset, but don't take this out on me."

"Sorry." Emma mumbled her apology before going to sit back down next to her mom, chewing her lip gently. "I'm just freaking out right now. None of this was supposed to happen! He was supposed to either not want anything to do with her, or he was supposed to work to be there for her. What do I get instead? A mess, and we all know how much I _love _messes." She added sarcastically, running a hand through her hair then resting her head on her hand, looking at Rose with a puppy dog pout. "Mommy? Can you fix this?"

Rose laughed a little bit and shook her head. "No, I can't. But I can help get this fixed." She thought for a moment before sitting back against the couch. "Maybe you need to play just as dirty, Emma…"

"Dirty?" Emma's eyebrow lifted and her head cocked. Her mother could be vicious when need be and Emma worried what the hell was going on in that beautiful head of her mother's.

"Paul is an attorney, is he not?"

It took a moment before realization set in and Emma shook her head, looking at her mother with furrowed eyebrows. "I can't do that. That's playing dirty on a whole new level, mom. I can't – that wouldn't be fair, asking Paul to go through all of that trouble against his own son." The very thought made her nervous. Even if he did agree, she worried about how that would change Will's dynamic with his father, and his dynamic with her farther on down the line.

"Do what you choose, Emma. But if I were in your position, I'd do everything I could to give myself even more of an advantage, and Paul is an excellent attorney." Rose reached over and pat Emma's knee gently, leaning to kiss her forehead before standing up and sighing. "Your father will be back with Willow soon enough. I'll get dinner ready."

-x-x-x-

Later that week, Emma lay in bed, leaning against the headboard. Her conversation with her mother days prior kept running through her mind. She should call Paul. She should ask him to represent her. If Will was willing to create a void between them like this, then why wasn't she? She didn't like to play dirty, but she would need someone to represent her, and her mother had a point. If Will wasn't using Paul, then what was the sense in letting a perfectly good attorney go to waste? Sighing and closing her eyes, she grabbed her phone, peeking through her eyelashes to dial the number. She then closed her eyes again, pressing the phone to her ear as if not seeing the room would make what she was about to request any less awful.

"Hello?"

"H-hi, Mister Schuester? This is Emma…"

"Emma! How are you doing?" His voice was cheery on the other end of the line.

"I'm, um, I'm doing alright. How about yourself?"

"Doing well, doing well. Finally got that guest room all finished today. Amanda's been on me about it for weeks." He chuckled and then sighed. "I'd say 'ah, women,' but I fear offending the lovely woman I'm speaking with."

Emma laughed a little bit. "Oh, no offense taken. As a species, we can be pretty demanding." She nodded, though he couldn't see her.

"Isn't that the truth?" He laughed.

"Um, speaking of women and being demanding by nature…" She started, her heart thumping and her hand starting to shake a little bit.

"Speaking of." Paul repeated teasingly, shaking his head a little bit. "What does my Emma have for me today?"

It never ceased to amaze Emma how he treated her so kindly, like she was his own daughter. He always did anything for her and for Willow. It made her more nervous to ask him this favor, but she had him on the phone so there was no backing out now.

Emma took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Um, I try not to ask a lot from you. From any of you, my mom and dad, you and Amanda…you're all so amazing and you've all helped me out so much over the years. You've probably done too much by some standards, accepting me back into your family like I was a teenager again and loving Willow so much when you don't have to, so you know I hate asking any of you for anything more than you already have given…" She swallowed.

"What is it, Emma?" Paul was curious after moments of silence. He loved Emma and Willow very much, and he knew Emma tended to view herself as an inconvenience after everything that happened, but in his mind she was as far from an inconvenience as you could get. He and Amanda loved them because they wanted to, not because they felt obligated; there was nothing that could be too much of her to ask.

"Will is taking me to court to get custody of Willow and I need an attorney."

The question hung in the air, neither of them speaking as it settled in what she was asking.

"Emma, I –"

Emma nodded and interrupted, her hand coming to rest over her eyes as she slid down against her pillows. "I know, I know. It's asking a lot, and maybe Will's already asked you to represent him, I don't even know. All I know is that I am freaking out. This is not how any of this was supposed to happen, he was supposed to want her or not want her. Instead he's playing these games of here and then gone and then here and then gone and now he's trying to get custody of her – and even if it's partial custody, I don't want that because it throws a wrench in her entire life. I can't have her life anymore derailed and screwed up than it already has been, and I'm just really worried and I don't know what to do and Mom said that I should see if you would be my attorney and I didn't want to, but like I said, I'm freaking out and I can't handle this, and I was stupid to ask you, and I'm s—"

"Emma! Breathe!"

She swallowed and took a few deep breaths, feeling like she was going to throw up. She sat up and put her head between her legs, taking another deep breath.

"Breathing?"

"Mhm."

"Okay. Now before you go full on panic attack, which I don't know how to help you with, let me speak." She remained silent, which Paul took as a good sign that she was settling down. "Alright. Now you're asking a lot of me, yes. Will has not asked me to represent him. It's possible that he didn't want me involved because I would have told him he's acting a bit too drastically here. Willow should stay with you, obviously, Emma. You're best for her, and her life isn't screwed up; she's a pretty happy kid if you ask me."

"So what are you saying?" Emma asked quietly, taking a deep breath.

"I'm saying…I'd do anything to keep Willow happy and you know that. So, I'll do it, but you need to talk to Will first."

"About what? He's done about all the communicating he needs at this point, don't you think?"

Paul shook his head, though she couldn't see him. "Talk to him. This is crazy and drastic, yes, but maybe it's his way of trying to get your attention. Maybe he wants this case as much as you do. Did you consider that?"

"Well…no. I just sort of freaked out and my mind went to everything bad." She sighed a little bit. "So I should talk to him?"

"I know my son. He doesn't want to fight you on anything – he never wanted to fight you on anything. This is probably the only thing he knows can get your attention. Call me after you've spoken with him and we'll proceed from there, okay?"

Emma nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

"Any time, Emma. Tell Willow hello from Grandma and Grandpa, and you get some sleep."

"Will do. Goodnight."

The line went dead and Emma clicked the phone off, turning on her side and lying on the bed curled up in a ball. She groaned as she dialed Will's number, resting the receiver against her face and praying that he would be asleep. She didn't really _want _to talk to him, but apparently that was the only way to get things done.

"Hello?" His voice was dull when he answered, a small sigh after he'd spoken.

"Will, it's Emma."

"Emma. How's life serving you lately?" He asked, a tone of sarcasm and slight entertainment in his voice.

"Ha. Ha. Will. You're so clever." She rolled her eyes. "We need to talk about this. I'm don't want to go to court with you over my own child."

"It's the only option that there is. She doesn't want to see me and you won't make her. It seems as if legal ruling is the only way to get your attention."

"That's not true, Will. I want her to be her own person and figure this out for herself. I'm helping her, I've tried to get her to talk whenever you call, but she won't do it. Do you really think being legally obligated to see you is going to make her want to?"

"No, but it'll forge some sort of relationship."

"A forced relationship. A distant one. You can't force this sort of thing." She paused. "If you want to go to court, we will, but I am letting you know now that I'm using your father as my attorney, and I will fight to have complete legal and sole custody of her. You are not going to walk into our lives and mess everything up by making her go back and forth between houses because you don't want to be patient."

"You're using my _dad?_" Will sounded surprised and somewhat disgusted by the confession. "What makes you think you can do that?"

Emma laughed a little bit. "The same thing that makes you think you can sue me for custody of a child you've known about for three months. I hate messes, but if I have to play dirty, I will. You want to use my OCD against me, and if you're going to sink that low, I'll sink as low as I need to." She took a breath, biting her lip. "I will win." She said much more confidently than she felt.

"What makes you so sure?"

"The fact that I'm her mother, I'm her primary caregiver, I've been here through everything, and your father is my attorney. Doesn't he have some crazy good success rate?"

Will hesitated a moment. "What's your point?"

"You're fighting a losing battle, Will. Why can't you just…talk about it. Don't get all of this mess started up because I don't know how I am supposed to juggle all of this. Talk. Work something out with me personally. Don't get the law involved."

"Emma, I have tried! You know what happens? Willow **won't** talk to me! Willow **won't** see me! And you're sitting there letting her make this decision! Do you realize that you are her mother?"

"Hey! Don't go playing the whole 'you're the mother' game with me, Will! I'm trying to let her guide this situation because the whole entire thing breaks my heart and I am a terrible mother no matter what I do in this situation! Either I sit by and let her continue on this way and I'm a terrible mother because I don't make her go see her father – someone she needs in her life – or I force her to go see you and I make her uncomfortable and I am a terrible mother for putting her in an awkward situation! There is no winning, so I am letting Willow be a grown up about this!"

Will sighed. "She's not a grown up, Emma! She's a stubborn ten year old kid! Why don't you do what is best for her?"

"I **always** do what is best for my child, Will! How dare you insinuate that I do otherwise?" She took a deep breath, closing her eyes before she started yelling. He had no place suggesting that she wasn't doing what was best for her child. "Both situations are in her best interest. I'm doing the best that I can."

"And the best thing is for her to decide on her own?" He sounded doubtful.

"Yes. It is. It's better than making us go through the ordeal of a custody hearing, only for you to lose, or for her whole world to get blasted apart with new adjustments."

"What are you saying, then, Emma? What do you want?"

She sat quietly, thinking for a moment. She lay back against her pillows with a small yawn, rubbing her eyes and sighing. "I want you to drop this stupid custody thing. I want you to try to make amends with Willow less forcefully. She's your daughter, but she's not yours to have."

"Not mine to have? What does that mean?" Will sat up on the other end of the line, gripping the phone in his hand.

"It means she's my daughter. She's yours, yeah, but she's mine. You can't just walk in and sweep her away from me. It doesn't work that way."

"Then why the hell did you tell me about her?!" His voice was rising, getting angry. "If she's not mine to have, then why did you tell me about her, Emma?"

"She wanted to know you, and I wanted you to know her. I never thought you would walk into her life, then out and then back in and then out and then try to get custody of her. That was not what was supposed to happen here, Will!"

"Oh, no? What was supposed to happen then, Emma? I was supposed to be happy to know she existed, and just taken it from there? Acknowledge she's my child and then stay away. Is THAT what you wanted?"

Emma stood up and started pacing as he spoke, getting angry. Why was he being such an asshole about this? "No, Will! That's not what I wanted! You were either supposed to want her or not. You were supposed to love her or not. You weren't supposed to turn this into a huge battle, making me out to be some mentally ill psychological liar in order to force her to spend time with you! None of THAT was supposed to happen!"

There was silence on the other end of the line and Emma sat back down on the bed, running her hand over her face tiredly. Minutes of nothingness passed and she took a breath, speaking softly.

"Will, if I could turn back the hands of time, I would have called you the moment I found out I was pregnant. I see that now, that messing up your life was probably what you wanted." She swallowed. "But I can't do that. I can't go back and fix what I broke, and I am really sorry that I messed this all up, but I need you to do this favor for me. I need you to please, please, please drop this case. I will do anything; just don't try to do to me what I did to you. Fighting fire with fire never helps anything. Everyone just gets burned."

_Silence_.

"…Will are you there?"

Will nodded and sighed. "Yeah, Em. I'm here." He'd reclined on his bed and put the phone on speaker. The heels of his palms were buried into his eye sockets as he listened to her speaking. The worst part of all of this was that somehow he now felt like the villain and the bad guy. But he wasn't. Okay, so he was doing this for no other reason than to get Emma's attention and make her see that he really did want to be in Willow's life as her father, no matter the cost and consequences…but he wasn't a bad guy. And that's when he realized that Emma wasn't the villain or the bad guy either. She never was. She was Emma. Emma who cared so much about everyone else, he'd once witnessed her have a breakdown because she couldn't help her brother resolve a personal issue. She cared about everyone so much, she'd break her own heart and tear her world apart just so she could say that she did what was best for everyone else. That was the Emma who he was dealing with right now; that was the Emma he loved. Taking a breath, he groaned. "Okay."

"O-okay…?"

"Okay, Emma. Okay."

"That – what?"

"I'll drop it. I'll make the call in the morning, and I'll drop it."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, letting out a small laugh. "Oh, really? I thought it would be much harder."

Will nodded. "Really. First thing in the morning, I'll call and see what I can do." A moment's hesitation. "Does Willow know?"

"That you tried to pull this? No. I'm not as evil as you probably think I am. I want her to want to know you; I'm not going to compromise that."

"Thank you." Will said with a small smile in his voice.

"No, Will. Thank you for agreeing to drop this."

"No problem."

She took a breath. "Well, look, I have to get up in the morning to take Willow and my sister to breakfast before girl's day. So I'll talk with you tomorrow evening? I'll see what I can do to get Willow to talk to you then, too?"

"Sure. Sounds good." He paused. "Oh, and Em?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, Will?"

"Right now, I'm telling you 'when.'" He said. "Goodnight." The phone went dead and Emma laughed a little bit, hanging the phone up.

"Okay, then…" She said, laying down and curling up underneath the covers, closing her eyes and welcoming on sleep.


End file.
